The Wacky World of the Wattersons
by Darren1138
Summary: The more things change, the more they stay the same. For the Watterson family, no words have ever been truer. Many years after the events of TAWOG, Sunbeam Watterson, son of Gumball and Penny, will take over his father's place as the residential troublemaker! Packed with new faces, new troubles, same mischievous adventures of this extraordinary family!
1. The Troublemaker

**A/N~ Finally, I've arrived!**

**While the Gumball fandom is slightly active, I hope people catch on with this **

**If anyone has followed me before, then you might have stumbled upon a little story called Shades of the Galaxy, a fusion between RWBY and Star Wars. If you're wondering what's been taking so long to update, I'll let you know that I am still writing as I speak. However, I've been very, VERY busy right now, so I haven't been able to touch on the story in a while. **

**I have made updates to my schedule to make as much time I have as possible on Shades and all the other stories I have written, so hopefully, there's an improvement.**

**So, if anyone's wondering, NO, Shades of the Galaxy is NOT dead and it's still undergoing some major developments! I am not giving up on my other RWBY crossover with Power Rangers (_Ninjas and Huntresses_) either, but that story has seen some changes over the past year or so.**

**About this story; truth be told, I'm actually quite new to Gumball. I've managed to binge watch the first season and am almost done with the second. I've also managed to catch glimpses of the rest of the seasons, but I've gotten a good idea where the story shall take place in. That is also why I'm partially using a lot of new OC's in this story while I continue to get familiar with the show. I'm also open to using the old characters from time to time, so keep your eyes peeled.**

**I was mainly a Disney Channel kind of guy and didn't really find the CN or Nick shows all that interesting (with the exceptions of Ben 10 and The Last Airbender). Only now, as an adult, however, I've grown to like the style of humour these shows brought, so I'm catching up with the Cartoon Network shows that I haven't been able to watch back in the day. I really, REALLY regret not watching these cartoons as a kid T.T**

**By the way, some of the character designs of this story are inspired by a brilliant artist from DeviantArt who has drawn his own take on a future Gumball story. I can't link his profile, so just go to DeviantArt and look up **_**BlehMaster7**_**. The characters he's drawn are really adorable, and I highly recommend checking him out.**

**Well, with that out of the way, I hope you guys enjoy this new story! And please do let me know if I missed anything from the show that could have been in this; I am still catching up with Gumball as we speak, so I'll get everything in check.**

**UPDATE (16/02/2020) - I changed Sunbeam's age from fourteen to twelve, because I believe fourteen-year-olds would usually be in middle school. I'm not very aware of how the educational system works in the US at this point, so do lecture if you folks happen to know how the system works :)**

* * *

**The Troublemaker**

"Okay. Let's get to work. Fireworks?"

"Check."

"Awesome 'Happy Birthday' banner?"

"Double-checked."

"Extra assurance that Miss Simian isn't around to ruin our fun."

"Probably busy flirting with the principal right now."

"Then, let's get 'er movin'!"

Two mischievous students began work on setting up a special occasion for a special person. Within the dimness of their classroom, they began to shift their classmates' desks around to make room for the large setup for the ultimate celebration.

The plan was set. Days of procrastinated planning had led to this day. All that homework skipped and chores left half-done had to be worth the while to focus on preparing for this day at school. This was to be the biggest surprise for Elmore Junior High, and what better way to celebrate someone's birthday than to throw a fancy surprise party!

Who cared if Miss Simian, the cruellest teacher in the world, put them in detention? They were set on going out with a huge bang!

The cat-kid fluttered his pair of wings that came out of the back of his shirt before he flew to one corner of the room. He hoisted a banner that read "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PEARL" painted in bright colours, hanging it up at the back of the room. A slight giggle escaped his mouth, highly anticipating the time to make use of this whole event.

Meanwhile, his cohort, a fox girl set up two machines with a tube protruding upwards from each one, placed on each side of the classroom door. Electric wires were connected to the socket underneath the blackboard, completely tangled into a messy cluster. With the flick of the switch, the fox girl grinned, satisfied over the explosive performance that would happen sooner or later. The loud booms that would echo through the hallways outside, the brilliant flashes of colourful explosions sparking up around the room.

The two began to continue on, setting up a lone table at the very centre of the room as the stage to reveal the genius (well, the one who contributed both the idea and the effort onto the idea) of the surprise.

The winged cat rubbed his hands together, his heart racing with excitement. The birthday girl who was coming in at any moment was almost here and he wanted this surprise gesture to be the best he had ever given her. All those days spent failing and thus embarrassing himself for her affections. Those would finally be put to rest today in the most special of days!

The fox girl looked out the door, peering just enough to peek at the left side of the hallway. There, she saw three figures coming her way. Three girls were chatting gleefully, walking with their books and stationery caressed in their arms. In the middle of the trio, a black cat girl with gleaming green eyes was giggling through the conversation, unaware of the scheming fox who was watching her from afar.

"They're coming!" whispered the fox, alerting the winged cat kid of their target's arrival.

"Showtime." the boy declared. Now, the two kids quickly ran behind two desks that had been laid down on their sides. Jumping behind cover, they waited for the right time to spring their trap. The boy couldn't wait any longer. A moment later, he would finally pour his heart into giving the girl of his dreams the perfect birthday wish!

He waited, keeping his hands onto the edges of the table and maintaining his calm not to get too overwhelmed. Perhaps he should worry about the possibility of Miss Simian coming right in instead of the girls. The thought of having that ancient fossil walking into the room was enough to send shivers down his spine. Maybe he should give it a break and recall everything.

Oh, who was he kidding?! Everything had been set up and there was no way that the laws of cartoon power to clean up almost everything in less than three seconds was ever going to work.

This was going to be perfect!

Sunbeam Watterson was not about to let this day go wrong for him!

The doorknob clicked, twisted and turned. At any moment, Sunbeam's guests would arrive and, with his friend, Dawn's help, she would trigger the machines to fire the small firecrackers that would shoot upwards, right behind the girls. Then, he would jump up onto the centre table and give her the biggest birthday wish any girl would ever love!

The door opened up. The three girls entered the classroom, still conversing. One of them, who was actually a walking, talking cup, walked over to the switch to put on the lights. But just as she was about to walk, the trap was sprung.

Suddenly, the girls were frightened when a barrage of explosions cracked behind them, causing them to scream and jump in fright. When the mini fireworks went off, the room flashed in a series of colourful blooms, producing a constant crackling noise that kept them frightened through the whole ordeal.

Then, when all was said and done, the girls were then attracted to a pair of lights that went on at the back, revealing the hastily drawn banner that revealed it all. The black cat girl, the birthday girl herself, stared in a mixture of awe and panic, still rocked by the fireworks display.

Her emerald eyes then shifted towards the lone table in the middle. At once, the lights went on and out came the energetic feline boy. With his arms out, the kid shouted out with all of his might, expressing his full happiness in the event.

"Happy Birthday, Pearl!"

The black cat remained silent, cheeks flushing red after suddenly being the focus of this whole surprise. The other two girls reeled in cringing annoyance, groaning that this was another one of Sunbeam's lousy antics to wow everyone in school, and being close friends to the one with the most attention, they couldn't help but feel dismayed that they had to attend the same class as him.

But Pearl, seemingly the centre of attention, did not falter…

It was hard not to fall in love with this beautiful black cat. Her silky, black fur was as gleaming as marble. Her face was like a teddy bear's; with a cute little kitty nose and emerald eyes that glowed like two moons in the night, enamouring the boys in school with only a glimpse of her gracious appearance.

But what caught Sunbeam's attention was how brilliant she was as a person. Good grades, head of the school's cheerleading squad and with no bad records. She was the ace in the hole for Elmore Junior High and no doubt, Sunbeam was smitten by her.

Her voice, soft and sweet, was shaking with mixed shock and flattery. Her cheeks continued to grow red as her heart beat faster than normal, putting her in a state of indecision on how to react. It seemed that the boy's attempt to woo her heart had succeeded, though it still looked as if her emotions were reserved from being too obvious.

Either way, Sunbeam stood firm and anticipating, awaiting Pearl's response. She had to say yes! All this work he put in making this happen couldn't go to waste. He poured his whole heart into winning Pearl's; any setback to his plan would be a disaster.

Finally, Pearl's mouth opened. Sunbeam couldn't make it out, but for a moment, her lips formed a small smile; a small sign of progress, but one that he took as significant. His plan was working after all! Pearl was about to thank him! Maybe?!

"Sunbeam! I-!" the girl stuttered shyly, Sunbeam waiting for her to speak. "This is-"

**SLAM!**

"What in the world is happening here?!" Everyone panicked, almost as if a beast had been freed from its chains. A ravenous monster who crashed right in to seek its meal. The kids reeled in utter fear as the hairy monster stared them all down, gritting its sharp teeth while its diamond-shaped eyes glared daggers at them. It entered the room, body bent forward with the intent to kill, inching closer with its hunger for not meat. No, not the taste of blood or flesh…

A taste for discipline and the hunt for the lack thereof.

It breathed powerful breaths of steam, adding to both the stench and temperature of the already heated moment. Hairs of black and grey stood out like fields of spiky grass, almost rotten to the core.

As it stared Sunbeam down with its venomous yellow eyes, the stench from her hair was enough to make the boy shiver with disgust. Its rage was so strong, it emitted a heating aura that could burn his fur. The angry face of the beast loomed over him like a giant titan over a walled city, frightening all particles of matter within his body.

The infamous beast of Elmore Junior High, who terrorized its students since time immemorial.

That beast was Miss Simian!

"Uh oh." the little squeak escaped Sunbeam's mouth.

"I demand to know what the heck is going on, Watterson!" yelled the ancient teacher, with the raspiest voice to rival all other elders in the town. Her eyes continued to pin the Watterson kid down, sweat beading down his face like raindrops on a stormy day.

"I... uh..." stuttered Sunbeam, frightened to the bone. The umpteenth time he was caught today. And of all days, this was the worst time to be sent to detention. Right there, in front of a trio of girls, two of them giggling. Sunbeam's eyes were on Pearl, who remained quiet, looking down in apparent embarrassment. Seeing her head down brought a pain in his heart, knowing that he had once again screwed up another great chance at getting closer to her.

Disappointment seeped in, but it was quickly replaced by fear of retaliation by the teacher before him. Before he could speak up a half-hearted excuse, Dawn Luna, the fox girl behind them all, yelled to save the day.

"Escape plan!" she cried out. She knew there would be a dead end, so she had a backup plan. There was only one problem;

"What?!" Sunbeam yelped. There was no escape plan mentioned in the grand scheme of things! Why the heck did she even bother to come up with an escape plan without bringing it up to him in the first place?!

But it was too late. Dawn ran as fast as she could before Miss Simian could catch her, racing to the front where the firework machine was. She spun the machine around and punched the back of it, letting out a firework that zoomed its way towards a pipe overhead of the classroom. The projectile blew up on the pipe, punching a hole that immediately unleashed a torrent of water that speared right onto the floor. The resulting blast caused a powerful wave of water that flooded the entire class, sweeping all within its wake.

Sunbeam found himself submerged in the raging wave, unable to swim through the violent currents. He desperately held his breath to brave the storm, but he flailed his arms and legs around so much that energy was being wasted and his lungs were getting weaker from holding his breath.

Then, he had an idea; there was only one thing he needed to do. Concentrating his body and mind, he began to convulse all over. The skin beneath his fur tensed up and the insides of his body became numb. Like a vortex, he found himself spinning around as his body was acting rather abnormally.

Soon, the changes were there. The boy had transformed from the humanoid feline kid into something completely different.

From out of the raging waters, Sunbeam emerged, finally regaining control of his swimming. When he jumped out, he began to streamline his way through the current. His body was now in the form of a cute, little otter, with bright yellow fur. The sleeker shape of his body allowed the boy to swim flawlessly, grooving along the wave.

While relieved that he had shapeshifted in time, Sunbeam could not shake off the feeling that he was still riding a dangerous wave that threatened to catch anyone who was in its way. True to its intent, the torrent surged towards a crowd of unsuspecting students who were caught unaware by the tidal wave that was about to swallow them whole.

Sunbeam screamed, unable to stop the bodies of students from being sucked into the wave, threatening to hit the otter head on. He kept his position steady, dodging each student or school property that came his way. Big, metal lockers, trash cans and more swung his way, making it more difficult for the kid to avoid.

Nevertheless, he swam forth, keeping his course intact. Passing one student caught in the flood after the next, Sunbeam zoomed like an athlete in the Olympics, torpedoing through the rough current while swiftly slipping past obstacle after obstacle.

Sunbeam rose from underneath the waves, popping out to catch his breath, but still a victim to the powerful force of the wave. Then, right behind him, his friend, Dawn, was seen riding atop what looked like a door from a locker, surfing on the wave, clearly having the time of her life.

"KAWABUNGA!" Soon, Sunbeam too couldn't feel frightened any longer. Even as his attempt failed earlier, at least he could go out with another bang.

"WOOOHHOOO!" He and his friend rode on, letting themselves ride the waves until it stopped. They ended up at the main hall as the wave died down. They slid onto the now wet floor, still laughing from the adrenaline rush they had taken. Sunbeam reverted back to his old form, chuckling along despite being soaking wet from the swimming. If their plan was going to end up in flames, at least they could cool off with a little water ride across the school hall.

Just one of many crazy adventures the two had made in their dysfunctional home of Elmore.

However, their mischief, as always, landed them in hot water. As Sunbeam looked up at the ceiling, with the shining light of the lamp blinding him, he then spotted a silhouette blocking out the light in an instant. After a closer look, he reeled in horror and guilt as the face of Miss Simian, also dripping with water, sneered dangerously at him.

"MR. WATTERSON AND MISS LUNA! DETENTION! NOW!" she screamed. The fur on Sunbeam's skin shot up like any cat would in the face of fear. In fact, probably anyone, hair or no hair, would reel in pain too if they were in trouble from the teacher. Alas, the sentence was delivered and the two troublemakers were to be taken to the classroom for almost destroying the school.

In shame, Sunbeam walked with Dawn down the hall, still dripping wet. Miss Simian stomped behind them, keeping her watchful eye on them. They passed through the carnage that had happened, with students choking out water and squishing up their clothes. The boy couldn't look at their faces for he could already feel the venom and fright coming from them, knowing that he was the one who caused this mess to begin with.

Further down the hall, the two kids walked past three more students, the girls from the classroom. The trio was also begrudgingly drying off their hair, two of them mumbling under their breath. Pearl, meanwhile, stayed calm. Flabbergasted, sure, but nevertheless calm.

The two menaces came by, earning venomous glares from the other two girls. Pearl's emerald eyes locked onto the guilt-ridden black ones of Sunbeam. After a second's glance, the boy retreated his gaze from her, too humiliated to look at the girl he adored, feeling like such a failure to her.

"Hmph! He so deserved that!" scoffed the first girl.

"That Sunbeam is such a freak!" hissed the other. "Come on, Pearl."

The words stung the boy to the core, feeling that they were right. Not only did he **look** like a freak, he **was** a freak, and Pearl probably agreed with them. He had nearly drowned them all and probably would have prevented it if he didn't stop Dawn from initiating her backup plan. Speaking of said girl, the young fox was caught sneaking a satisfied grin, not at Sunbeam's misery, of course, but to the sole fact that she had caused all of this trouble.

That was what you get for having a member of the Luna family as your best friend. But more to the point, Sunbeam himself was not as innocent as he wished to believe. No matter how noble or intentionally naughty his schemes could be, they always ended up getting him and others around him in trouble.

Trouble…

That was always the norm for Sunbeam Watterson.

* * *

"What am I ever going to do with those two?"

How could any principal be so unlucky to have such mischievous students for this long? Especially since one such student happened to be the prodigy of another known rabble-rouser.

That was what Principal Brown thought as he gave his coat of long, greyed fur (I mean, literally, the guy is a walking stack of hair) a complete drying with a blow-dryer. He then put his glasses on and sat himself back at his desk, groaning in frustration over another destructive day for Elmore Junior High. While he was unfortunate to have been outside his office at the time of the flooding, his office was sealed shut and protected by the new disaster-prevention system he installed for his door on the day he heard that Sunbeam Watterson and Dawn Luna were attending the school. And for good reason, too, because the Wattersons and the Lunas were already trouble way before the two were even born, and every precaution had to be taken.

There was already enough stress to deal with for paperwork, now there were damages to pay for and parents of the victims to appease. It's a good thing Miss Simian was backing up the front with watching over the children as they were being tended to in detention.

But a worry remained inside of him. Elmore Junior High wasn't the first school to face the consequences of their antics, and, dare he say it, it wouldn't be the last.

He had to put a stop to the madness before more schools, colleges or even potential workplaces could suffer under the wrath of their collective chaos.

No point calling Sunbeam's mother; she had enough trips to his office as it was. The Lunas? Forget it! They were already a lost cause. If he had to discipline the lone child of the Lunas, he had to do it some other hard way.

Principal Brown stared shakenly at his red phone, sweat already beading down from the tough decision to make. Without any other option, Principal Brown was forced to result to the one person who could have the time to be notified of the boy's antics.

The only problem was; that person was just as troublesome as Sunbeam was, if not, a whole lot worse. Someone who had his own notorious reputation with the school and all of Elmore on more than one occasion.

Yep, the man was none other than the boy's own father…

Gumball Watterson.

"Time to bring that old troublemaker back here."

* * *

Clinging and clanging… Smoke filling the air… The sounds of screams and rants all around… Everything you need for an emergency situation.

Just another day at work at the Rainbow Factory. Not that it hadn't seen better days, but this was definitely the worst of times, and it involved a certain worker who, in a series of misunderstandings and a careless attitude, had somehow ruptured an entire assembly line meant for the next rainbow production.

The worker had himself backing off from the foreman's office, sweating and shivering with fear. From out of the door came the foreman himself, an oversized purple jelly bean, who shot daggers out from his eyes at the punk who blast that disgusting coat of purple gunk all over the initially red-skinned bean.

"Oh, don't worry, Mr. Pearson!" stuttered the worker, the grown blue cat named Gumball Watterson. "I'm sure the machine can be repaired, just fine!"

"Forget the machine! Look what you did to **me**!" roared the foreman, emphasising the scale of his rage by referring to himself instead of the rest of the damage done to the factory. "I'm supposed to be a raspberry-flavoured bean! NOT A GRAPE-FLAVOURED BEAN!"

"Oh, cheer up!" Gumball tried to be more enthusiastic in a completely desperate attempt to brighten his boss' mood. "Grapes are great this season!" Nothing worked, of course. Mr. Pearson stared his angry eyes at Gumball, intent on dealing absolute punishment to the clumsy worker, if only it weren't for one simple fact that kept the klutz safe from retaliation.

"You're just lucky your mother is the CEO of this company, Mr. Watterson!"

"Uhhh… I wouldn't say 'lucky'…" stuttered Gumball. His mother being his boss was not always such a good thing, considering she's the woman who's been something of the family dictator as far as he could remember.

"Exactly!" shouted Mr. Pearson. "You better have a good excuse for her about the damage you've done!" In an instant, the raging bean zipped into his office and, a second later, burst out with a piece of paper in hand. "Here!" Gumball took the paper, reading up the peculiarly shabbily and rashly-written sentences on it.

"You are required to write an apology letter to Mrs. Watterson regarding the unfortunate circumstances surrounding the dim-witted nature of her incompetent thirty-year-old employee of a son. No less than thirty-thousand words and a bank note for the damages done."

Gumball blinked before he shot his nervous gaze back at the foreman. "Uh, can we just settle for a cup of coffee instead?"

"NO! Have this done by tomorrow and that's final!" the man yelled before he shut the door and ended the rather tumultuous conversation.

Gumball could only sigh, having to struggle to write a complete essay of his wrongdoings and to show it all to his mother. It was quite an embarrassing way to show your appreciation to her for putting up with your shenanigans for the past five years as the new overlord of the factory.

And what stroke of luck it was to have your mother overtake the company from the lowly worker she once was. That was... well, partially Gumball's fault as well. Something about a donut and some pepper that resulted in a complete onslaught of sneezes, and given the previous boss was a sentient cloud, the literal storm of lightning bolts and downpour had left the firm no choice but to temporarily retire him. So, for the moment, Gumball's mother assumed the position of CEO until Mr. Yoshida could return... which was **way** overdue after a suspicious series of vacations the man had been taking since the accident, almost like he was happy to finally be away from work.

Whatever the case, Nicole's run as CEO was absolute, to the point where even Mrs. Yoshida herself was amicable to her friend's ascension in the ranks. This was the moment when she should have had all the power and money in the world to cover up that blunder about inheriting a family star by his father.

And then, Gumball needed a job and, out of pure familial care, Nicole agreed to hire him. What followed was the predicted outcome of work-related disasters and climbing damage payments.

True to his word, the CEO was not very happy with her son's slip-ups. Minutes after the altercation between him and Mr. Pearson, Gumball had to make the right choice and tell Nicole Watterson of the disaster that happened, which ended up being the worst thing anyone could do, especially since it involved the primal scream of all bosses.

"Yes, Mum!" argued Gumball. "I get it! How was I supposed to know the violet stuff goes into the violet container?" That was; before he turned back to a stupefied look on his face. "Wait, when I put like that, it kinda sounded stupid, huh?"

"Listen, Gumball." sighed Nicole from the other end of his phone. "You're thirty, now. You need to be smarter than this."

"This coming from the woman who called the men of the house 'halfwits'." mused Gumball. From the phone, he could hear another faint sigh from his mother.

"Please, just be more careful. I can't keep letting you off the hook like this just because you're my son. It's just not fair for the other workers." Gumball took his turn to sigh, finally accepting the reality of the situation. If growing into a man had taught him anything, trying to fix things his way was never going to cut it, not in the way he would try and solve his problems.

"I know, Mum." admitted Gumball. "You don't have to do that. Just... boot me off if the next incident happens. That's all."

"Next time, please be more responsible." told nicole. "You're not the same boy who caused all those shenanigans back then. You're a full-grown man, with a loving family and a good job. Please don't lose all of that."

"Mum. There's nothing that I want more than to make my family happy." laughed Gumball, reminded of the prime source of motivation he did have for working. He had a family to work for and he was devoted to taking care of this loving family.

"So glad to hear you say that. I got to go. I have to start counting up the damages you did today. That goes off your monthly salary."

"Fine." Gumball shrugged his shoulders, sighing in defeat.

"And don't forget to take your son home." reminded Nicole, earning a chuckle from the young father.

"I wouldn't miss the little tyke for the world. Love you." Gumball ended the call, putting his phone back into his pocket. Deciding to let the incident slide, he looked to the bright side of things, hopeful for a better tomorrow. No matter the accidents, the screw-ups and the blunders, he would tackle them all the way, and vowed to make sure to avoid as few of them as possible.

"Well, this day can't get any worse."

Just then, his handphone rang again. Gumball picked up the device and answered the call.

"Hello?" At the other end of the call, he recognized the low, kind voice of an old acquaintance. "Oh! Hey, Principal Brown! It's been a while." After some muffled grumbling from his old principal, Gumball heard the exact thing he didn't want to hear after his great accident at the factory.

"HE DID WHAT?!"

* * *

Principal Brown's eyes teetered back and forth between the door and his clock; driven by fear of the mayhem he might have ensued by inviting the former worst student in the school into his office. His fingers tapped along on top of his desk, sweat dripping down as he prayed for nothing terrible to happen. Every minute that passed felt like an hour, every hour going into a day.

The memories of his previous crackdowns on Gumball Watterson served to remind him of the worst of days when the boy caused much more than what his son would eventually be capable of. Reminiscing about those awful times made him on edge for the worst possible outcome, almost a little too much when he noticed the claw marks he had made at the edge of the table. He looked at his cup, trying to see if a drink of water could calm his nerves, only to realize that his drink was already finished, twice. Had he been **that** nervous over one man? This troublemaker who could have grown to lose his immature habits and could easily become a swell young man and would do good to discipline his son over his own habits. He was sure Gumball Watterson finally stopped being a kid at this point.

Then, a few knocks on the door, startling the man enough to pull all his hair out. From behind the door, the man of the hour entered the room. The man was out of his work attire, dressed in his signature brown jacket and beige khakis, jumping right in to address his old principal. Awkward after not seeing the man after so long, Gumball sheepishly chuckled, unsure how to make a good impression.

"Heya, Principal Brown!" laughed Gumball. "Or should I call 'ya, Principal **Grey**? You know, because you're… hehe. Old?" But nothing was working. The greying old man before him breathed out with uneasy frustration, now remembering why he should have never been so frightened of the trouble magnet in the first place.

"Sit." ordered Brown. The father did so and proceeded to seat himself down on one of the two wooden chairs in front of the desk. The Watterson kid fiddled with his thumbs, still awkward, of what to say next for the next minute. He was bent on answering for what his son did at school today. But staring at Principal Brown after all this time made him a little uneasy. After all, the visits to school were all done by the mother of the family while he was at work. What was he to say and what was he to do after the talk was done?

"So... uh... What's the issue?" he began.

"Mr. Watterson." called Principal Brown as he pushed his spectacles up.

"Uhhh, Principal Brown. We've known each other for ages. Do you have to be so formal?" asked Gumball.

"Sorry… **Gumball**, but being the head of a school requires etiquette of the highest calibre. Now, onto the subject of your son."

As the talk began, Gumball couldn't help but wonder what the heck was Sunbeam thinking about flooding the entire school earlier today. What could be the spark that caused this madness to happen? A bully who needed to be taught a lesson? A boring day to quash with excitement? The father remembered the times he used to cause so much havoc in school back then, and he could imagine what his own son would be thinking about that would fit his old style.

"Your son and his accomplice just flooded the entire school, nearly drowned almost half the student body and caused an insurmountable amount of damage to our property. And all of this for what? To impress a girl! And not just any girl, but one of our most excellent students!" Mr. Brown explained while Gumball sat at attention, doing his best not to feel too defensive towards his son. Yeah, he did wrong to flood the school, but could he blame him for chasing his woman's heart?

Okay, maybe he would. It was still a stupid thing to start a flood for whatever reason, except maybe for a desperate attempt to put out a fire.

Mr. Brown went on about the costs, blabbering about how he feared Sunbeam could be a negative influence to the student body, and the more he complained, the more uneasy he felt about the walking pile of hair talking badly about the boy. His fatherly instincts drove him to argue back, but he did his best to behave, remembering how much worse things could get if he tried to say anything against Mr. Brown.

"Your son is just like you, Gumball." Brown finally ended his report, hands put together. "He gets into too much trouble around here."

"Come on, Mr. Brown." laughed Gumball. "He can't be that bad."

"He's **your** son." cleared Mr. Brown.

"And Penny's!" defended Gumball.

"It's clear that you're the bigger influence."

"So?! What the heck does that make him the troublemaker you say he is?!" Just to prove his point, Mr. Brown pulled out an inventory list of the damages done by the Watterson kid alone. Considering the length of the list, Gumball gulped, fearful that there was more to pay than his own faults at work. The principal cleared throat before he listed down the big money denominators.

"Damaged lockers." said Principal Brown as the list went on. "Vandalism of school property. Engagement with the wrong crowd. Insulting his school teachers. Attempting to hijack school cafeteria supplies.

"And the list goes on…"

"Eh. I used to do all of those stuff all the time. That never seemed to bother me." Gumball dismissed with a shrug.

"I'm sure they never bothered you, but they were a bother to **us**. And now, we're living the repeat of it through your son." argued Principal Brown.

"Okay, okay!" shouted Gumball, tired of being continuously bombarded by complaints. "I get your point."

"Not only that, but he has made an accomplice out of Dawn Luna." added Brown. This time, Gumball remained neutral, unsurprised by the fact that Sunbeam's own friend was a known culprit.

"And you're surprised... Why? The Luna's are always out for trouble." The Lunas. Ever since they moved into town several years ago, they have equalled the Wattersons in mischief-making and chaos. But unlike the Wattersons, they **revelled** in the chaos they caused! They were intentioned troublemakers! So, was it any surprise that the only daughter of the family would join in whatever mischievous scheme his son concocted?

Well, at first, it was. But after years of bonding and friendship, Gumball had grown to accept the fox girl as his son's closest companion; both feeding off of each other's pension for trouble and ending up fixing their mistakes as they went. Unfortunately, not everyone was satisfied at the end.

"You know I can't have the school suffer another major malfunction." added Brown, being more argumentative than before. "The Ministry of Education has been notifying me of high costs and terrible reception from parents."

"Sir, we've always had terrible reception." sighed Gumball.

"And you think we deserve it?" exclaimed the principal. "Years of complaints and reports are only going to make our school even more dangerous than it needed to be! Can't you, for once in your life, care about how we run things around here?!"

All at once, the room fell silent. Principal breathed in deeply before letting out in an exasperated sigh, relieving himself of the stress of beating it all into the father's head.

Gumball was actually at a loss of words. It's not the first time Principal Brown showed such devotion for the show, but more often than not, he was always at the receiving end of the school's punishments and reprimanding, so he couldn't do anything but blame everyone else for his troubles. Now, as a full-grown adult, there was a new sense of understanding to Principal Brown. Without being part of the trouble, Gumball had begun to feel for the aging man as he dedicated his heart and soul in building this school's character.

"Look, Gumball. I'm not going to stress this out any further to you." admitted Principal Brown, now with warmth in his voice. "You have grown up so much when you moved on to high school. Even Miss Simian was impressed."

"Really?"

"Impressed… as in, she bowled in defeat that you had successfully completed junior high. I haven't seen her so defeated since she lost her electric baton on her first day here." Gumball chuckled. He remembered the look of loss on Miss Simian's face when he finally graduated from high school. To him, of all the students to excel from school, no one, especially his teachers, would have ever guessed that he would rise from education when he was nothing more than a master of mischief. "But my point is; you matured over the years and it seems you have done good having a family." But then, Principal Brown's voice returned to one of concern.

"That is why I expected your son to not repeat your mischief." he added. His fingers came together in a formal manner, hard pressed to tell Gumball the bad news. "If he does not prove himself to be of good behaviour tomorrow, I'm afraid I must expel him."

"No!" shouted Gumball with all the surprise in his voice. "That is so not cool!"

"I'm sorry, Gumball, but that is how things must be. I cannot afford to have the both of them cause so much trouble like this, especially since the next semester's tests are coming up. We cannot go on with repairs if they bring more harm to our students." Despite his anger and surprise, Gumball could not argue. One too many times, he was forced to hear the complaints that his son had caused so much trouble that schools were almost at the point of giving up. He couldn't understand why these people were at their wit's end, even after he himself, as a kid, had given them all the pain and stress. Now, here they were, about to throw in the towel and call it quits with his son.

But at the same time, he knew what was at stake now. The school was about to end another semester. If Sunbeam caused another ruckus, it was going to be a blow to everyone's academic performance. He understood that there was no time for error and Sunbeam had to focus on what's more important.

As of late, his grades had not been properly improving either. Having so much time on finding fun and excitement in his school life, the boy had not been maintaining a standing amongst the others, much to Penny's disappointment.

Gumball knew there was no going back from this. If Sunbeam was to stay at this school, if the family was to stay at Elmore, the kid had to be at his best. No more antics. As much as the father wanted to accept that his son was, just like him, a magnet for trouble, there had to be a stop to the madness before it'd end.

Gumball held in his frustration. Sunbeam was not always the troublemaker everyone made him out to be. He was just doing things for the fun of others, even if his schemes didn't always land on solid ground. There could be some taming to the process, but overall, the kid did not intend to hurt anyone. The young man vowed to make sure that his son would not be hunted down like some nuisance, and he promised to help him adjust to the school's norms.

Without the mayhem, however, Sunbeam could actually be a well-behaved young man himself. He just needed a reason to listen and abide by the rules. He was made to behave in certain circumstances by his mother, so perhaps Gumball could do some good too.

After all, it's only until the semester ends, which should be about a week later. Until then, Sunbeam just had to lessen his efforts on fun and pay closer attention to the academic side of things. It would definitely make his mother happy, and if the school would appreciate the effort, then Sunbeam could not be expelled. He would be safely secure here in Elmore and the family would not have to move.

"You're right, sir." Gumball finally gave in. "I'll make sure Sunbeam behaves himself until the semester's end."

"And how do you propose he'd do that?" asked Principal Brown, sceptically.

"I dunno. Be an honest man about it and tell him straight?" Gumball groaned with sarcasm, as he was not eager to carry on with the interrogative conversation for long. "I'll think of something."

"I certainly hope you will set things straight with him, Gumball." sighed Principal Brown. "I have high hopes for your son, but right now, he needs to become a better student for the school."

Gumball nodded, already accepting the terms given to him and his son. After their discussion about Sunbeam, the adults continued to go over the costs of damage. There was a notable gulp down Gumball's throat, already anticipating another salary cut and another major meltdown by his mother once she was informed of the situation. After all was said and done, the young father rose from his seat, finished with the talk, but still with a heavy heart.

"If we're done talking here, then I'll just leave." addressed Gumball. He walked out the door, but before he could leave, he did have some last words to say to the principal.

"But just so you know; my son is not a nuisance. He's a fun-loving kid who needs excitement in his life, so I can't promise you he'll stay like this for long. He'll behave enough just until the exam is over. After that, you can't expect him to be the way you want him for long."

"I understand, Gumball." agreed Principal Brown. Truth be told; he wasn't entirely set on expelling Sunbeam Watterson. He'd given the boy the same chance every single student in school got, no matter how destructive they could be. That, however, also meant that he was also vulnerable to any repercussion thrown at him. "Though I won't stop disciplining him in the future. One of these days, he will have to become a proper gentleman."

"I'll make sure he does good in this school, Mr. Brown." vowed Gumball, inching closer to the exit to shut the door. "Don't you worry about it." He shut the door behind him, head held up high with optimism.

Though the day was about to end with two hard hits to his morale, the father of two was committed to help his son get through the rather thin red line. Forget the salary cuts and the damage costs! The most important thing was that Sunbeam was going to need his help, whatever that help may had been.

After collecting himself, Gumball made his way to the classroom, where he was told that his son was waiting for him after a lengthy detention.

* * *

Sunbeam and Dawn sat quietly in another classroom that was, fortunately, not struck by their massive tidal wave. A pencil in the boy's hand, he silently scribbled some random pattern on the piece of paper that was meant for a thousand-word essay about the mess he made and how he was going to correct his errors.

His morale was completely blown, shaken by the fact that he nearly drowned the entire student body in a single blow. His eyes drooped sadly onto his desk with a few sighs coming out of his mouth. His heart pumped with hurt, especially because he had embarrassed himself in front of his crush; the girl who was also victimized by the wave. He was sure that she was never going to speak to him ever again.

After all, the other girls called him a freak, and rightfully so. He had never stopped getting into trouble with everything and his problems almost always landed others in hot water.

At the front, Miss Simian kept her sore eyes on them like a hawk after its prey, watching the kids without a single blink. Her gaze was as angry as ever, clearly overwhelmed with spite for the disaster upon her. Of course, she would be there, Sunbeam thought. She would do anything to witness the suffering of her students; his father told him just as much.

Just then, some melody was being sung behind him. The boy looked behind him to see where the humming came from. Not surprised, he saw Dawn scribbling on her own sheet of paper, with a smile on her face. Judging by the way she was calmly drawing, it seemed she had a much more pleasant time with the trouble she caused today.

Seriously? Of all times to be happy about spreading chaos, this had to be one of those days? He always wondered how could he be best friends with the fox girl, let alone questioning her obsession with disorder.

"NO SINGING!" Sunbeam could have sworn his bones became brittle after the nasty screeching voice of Miss Simian silenced the fox, a bead of sweat barely making its way down his head. Dawn sighed, putting away her pencil and placing her chin on top of her balled fist.

The two remained quiet for the next hour. Sunbeam eagerly waited for the whole ordeal to end, so he could go home and just be done with it. He couldn't avoid the inevitability that his parents would want to talk about it, but he had no time or energy to care. He had suffered the biggest failure he had taken in a long while and it hurt so much, that all other problems were null compared to the heartbreak he was going through.

Sarah Salem was the most beautiful girl he ever laid his eyes on. Ever since she came to Elmore, he was smitten by her beauty. Of course, he wasn't the only one; all the other boys started to fall for her too, causing a tense competition behind the scenes. That's what prompted the birthday bash in the first place. It was Sunbeam's chance to one-up the competition and finally win her heart.

Sadly, the only thing he gained was a trip to detention, a grand slam of shame from the girl he loved. He had lost his chance to score a hit on her and now, sitting idly by in a classroom under the demonizing eyes of Miss Simian, he was out of luck.

Then, an hour into detention, the door began to be knocked from the outside. Rolling her eyes in a scowl, Miss Simian called the person in with a disgruntled growl.

"Come in." she groaned. The door clicked open and the man came in, causing Sunbeam to retreat below his seat and shapeshifted into a tiny little mouse, hiding underneath the desk compartment. In came in Gumball, with a stern look on his face, suggesting that he was focusing his disappointment onto his son. Instead, however, his dismay was rather on the teacher sitting at the front of the school; the teacher who, apparently, wailed at his success. Usually, in his youth, Gumball wouldn't really let the spite she had for him get to him; she was going to keep hating him regardless of what he did. Now, he was free from the tyranny, old enough to feel nothing but mutual distaste for her teaching methods.

"Watterson…" Simian growled.

"Miss Simian…" muttered Gumball. All the while, Sunbeam peeked from underneath his desk, still shaking with fright. He watched the minute-long staring showdown between the two adults, relieved that his dad wasn't prioritizing his disappointment on him, adding a bit of hope that he was being left off the hook from the chaos he and Dawn caused today. However, that still didn't shake the feeling that his father was saving it for later, when they would have to go home and explain everything. Oh, he could tell how long he was going to get grounded this time…

After a minute of a tense staring contest, Gumball sniffed out frustratingly, having had enough of looking at the ancient dinosaur before him.

"If you'll excuse me, I'm here to take my son home." he urged, ignoring the deadly gaze shot at him and walked straight towards his son. He saw the tiny mouse form his son had transformed into, hiding underneath the desk. His hands were on his hips as he stared disapprovingly at his kid, reigniting the fears Sunbeam had when it came to his father.

Was he about to say something? Sunbeam couldn't hold in his anxiety at seeing his father giving him that look. If Gumball could see him clearly, he would notice his son's tiny body shivering with doubt. A sigh left his mouth, knowing how afraid Sunbeam was of any disciplinary action.

"Come on, you two." Gumball gestured the two kids to follow him. Returning to his normal form, the green-furred feline left his seat and joined Gumball and Dawn out the classroom. Before they could leave, however, Miss Simian chortled, her raspy voice made their skins crawl.

"Oh sure!" laughed Miss Simian. "And be sure to take him out for good this time! We shall see how you'll do once you're gone." All at once, the Wattersons had a series of emotions running through them. Sunbeam felt like a dagger had pierced through his heart, stung by the harsh words that only added to the pain he had been keeping.

Gumball, on the other hand, wanted to turn around and yell back at the monkey of a teacher. The memories of his rather unpleasant encounters with Miss Simian in the past had painted a very bad image of the teacher in his head. Now, after seeing that she hadn't change and when she had the decency to mock his son, there was pent up anger ready to be burst open. But he refused to make another scene. He and his son had caused enough trouble in this school as it was. With all the patience in the world that he could muster, he ignored the teacher, not looking back and led the kids out from the school and leaving Miss Simian to cackle in her glee.

When the three went outside, Gumball took his keys out and unlocked the doors to his red sedan, parked outside on an empty lane. The sun was already setting and it was close to dinner time. So, it was off to home for the trio.

Sunbeam fell silent the whole way. He couldn't find the words to say for he felt that he was in big trouble. All he did was twiddle his fingers nervously while avoiding any eye contact with Gumball. The older man, conversely, didn't really feel any bit disappointed in his son; he just couldn't. Just like his father, Richard, before him, Gumball was not the type to be too angry at his son, apart from a few special cases. When it came to Sunbeam making mischief and getting himself in all situations, Gumball wasn't one to make a big fuss about it. Unsure of what to say to each other, Gumball and Sunbeam just walked to the exit, not saying anything until then.

Dawn, meanwhile, kept herself quiet behind them with her hands behind her head, as she nonchalantly praising herself of the mess earlier.

As they stepped down the stairs, Sunbeam finally broke it to his dad with a sad undertone. If he was going to be in trouble, he figured he had to explain himself. The sooner, the better, he thought...

"Dad! It's not what you think. We were just…"

"It's cool, son." Gumball dismissed the need of the explanation. Sunbeam hoped he would let it all go without any consequences of his actions, but he knew the calm was not to last. "Let's go home so you can tell me **and** your mother all about of it." The boy sighed, expecting the worse was about to happen later on. While Gumball walked to his car, Sunbeam looked to Dawn, who was texting gleefully on her phone to her parents about the glorious day she had. When Sunbeam faced her, she decided not to make her joy too obvious, so her friend wouldn't be too hurt by the damage he did. Instead, she gave her best friend a soft smile, patting him at the shoulder.

"Well, I'm so grounded for the next month." groaned Sunbeam in defeat. "I'll see you soon?"

"You bet, Sunbeam." assured Dawn. Sunbeam took his turn to smile. The fox girl may had been a serial troublemaker, but when he needed her to be the friend to comfort him, she knew how to deliver, putting aside her obsession with chaos to tend to her partner-in-crime.

As the Sun with a face began to yawn and set down to the horizon, the Wattersons entered their sedan, leaving Dawn behind.

"Sure you don't want a ride home, Dawn?" asked Gumball.

"No thanks, Mr. Watterson. I can walk." answered Dawn.

"Alright. Do be careful." laughed Gumball before entering the driver seat. "And don't cause another car accident on the way back."

"Sure thing." With a hand out and a blatant promise, the fox girl walked off, allowing the car to take off and head back home.

* * *

The town of Elmore.

Population; a count of 20,000 that oddly fluctuates up and down every month. A lovely-looking suburban town in the United States. Lovely, if it wasn't inhabited by a weird and wacky menagerie of people who called it home.

You can never find a town filled with more oddities than anywhere else in the world. All kinds of beings here live normal (or at least they tried to be normal) lives. Inanimate objects gain sentience, animals and plants grow feet and legs and walk around like normal people. You just won't know what to expect from these citizens.

For the Wattersons, living in such a bizarre environment came with the territory, being among the odd families out there in Elmore. Just imagine an anthropomorphic blue cat and a yellow fairy with antlers starting a family with kids that adopted body features of both sides. That was an example of the wild variety of odd beings in the town.

While the feel of Elmore was truly bizarre, the residents still had real problems, and one kid was going through a swirling whirlpool of emotions.

The car ride was, just like the minutes before, silent. Father and son did not budge and said anything. Now that Sunbeam knew his father wasn't in any mood to discipline him, he only had to worry about his mother later on. For now, there was more room to seep in the embarrassment he had taken from his failures.

Gumball couldn't find the right words to say, somewhat feeling lost without his fatherly instincts to guide him this time. If it wasn't the fact he had his hands on the wheel and his eyes on the road, it was definitely the loss of motivational support he had for his son. The stresses of work had taken up most of his time that he hadn't found enough of it to cheer his son up.

He occasionally shifted his gaze onto his son, who rested his head against the window with a depressed face. The sight of Sunbeam riddled with sadness was enough to snap Gumball out of his quiet state. He cleared his throat, finally ready to speak, even without the answers to exactly solve the problem.

"Hey. That was a great effort you made today." he said. Unfortunately, Sunbeam didn't say anything, still moping at the window. Pressured, Gumball continued to try and make his son happy. "Reminds me of the time your Uncle Darwin and I completely destroyed the cafeteria when I was your age.

"The Great Meat Coup of 2012! When they cut off our precious supplies of meatloaf and burgers to be replaced by…!"

"Broccoli."

As intriguing as the story would have been, Sunbeam didn't show any interest. Now that Gumball wasn't so disappointed, it gave Sunbeam a little more room to breathe. He was free from the worries that he'd upset his father for making more trouble, except maybe for the little bit left for when he would face his mother. No longer feeling the need to fear, all that was left was the humiliation he had suffered earlier, and it was more than he could take.

"Ah, cheer up, Sunbeam. I'm sure your little birthday wish was fine. It ain't every day you get a birthday surprise like that."

"It would have been fine, Dad, if I didn't bother coming up with the whole celebration thing." groaned Sunbeam.

"Nonsense! I'm sure the school would have accepted it." assured Gumball. "You just… need to ask for permission the next time you try and celebrate like that." A minute later, the two were quiet again until Sunbeam uttered about the consequences of his stunt.

"Principal Brown isn't very pleased with me, is he?"

"I wouldn't say that… Maybe a little… grumpy?" Gumball stuttered, sheepishly scratching the back of his head with a hand off the wheel. "Okay, that wasn't the word to use…" He took one more look at Sunbeam, seeing the same saddened face. Nothing was working for them, so instead of joking around, he dropped the whole act and decided to be sincere.

"Don't worry. You just need to lay low for a little while and focus on your exams." said Gumball. "Then, once you're done, you can have all the fun during the next break!"

Just then, a very cold thought entered Sunbeam's head. Frustration had taken over when he thought about the other things that could happen after the flooding. What would his friends think? How could Pearl ever talk to him after being called out as a freak right in front of her? And just how could he handle all of this while given practically one last chance to survive school until the semester ends? The thoughts raged inside his head as Sunbeam's mood swung to full anger and sadness.

"Yeah, but what's the point of having fun if no one else wants to have it with me?" cried Sunbeam, filled with grief of his fallen reputation. "Everyone must hate me for what happened today!"

"Come on! You come up with the greatest ideas." Once again, in his hurried need to cheer his son up, Gumball spoke up again. And again, "They're just, you know… They just need a little more work."

At that point, Sunbeam didn't want to hear it. His father wasn't really doing a good job making him feel any better and he couldn't let him try any longer. Perhaps, it was best to just leave things the way they were and unwind for a bit. Unless a miracle was to happen the next day, Sunbeam was not really enthusiastic about what the future held for him.

"Let's just go home. Okay, Dad?" whimpered Sunbeam, finally finished listening. The defeated tone of his son's voice was enough to prove to Gumball that there was nothing more he could do to make Sunbeam feel better. It hit a heavy chord in his heart to face such a hard moment like this. Somewhere inside of Gumball, he wanted to continue, never wanting to give up until the end, just as he always did as a kid. But he was a father now, a much wiser man than the relentless, reckless moron he was before. He couldn't keep pressuring people into enjoying everything he did or it would end up biting back at him; a lesson he learnt as he matured.

His face sunk lower in sadness, closing his eyes for a brief moment before he faced the road again, driving back home.

"Okay, son." he sighed. The rest of the drive was an uninterrupted period of silence until they reached home. Only then could the burden be lifted, Gumball hoped…

* * *

Night began to take its course as the moon with a face loomed over, yawning to take its shift. Gumball's sedan had just stopped in front of a single house in between two more; the old residence of the Watterson family in which he inherited from his parents.

The house had barely changed since Gumball's family had moved out.

His parents were living in a slightly more prestigious house closer to the Rainbow Factory, where his mother would be sure to manage things closer to home. His dad hadn't found much luck finding a job, as always, but Nicole was more than content to keeping him at home with her.

Darwin, the most awesome little brother and best friend Gumball could ever have, had stayed with the Wattersons until he was also ready to venture out in college. Soon after, he had married his old (or should I say, **very** old) ghostly girlfriend, Carrie, and the two moved to a small house further away from Elmore. The two had tried their best to contact each other, but the reception at Darwin's place wasn't so swell. It also didn't help that the couple had taken the chance to travel the world to explore the realms of the undead and possibly some dark corners of history. With the unique ability to teleport anywhere you want, what need was there for air travel? So, the two were barely at home, unable to keep in touch with everyone else. But Gumball supposed it was fine. If anything, Carrie would be able to save themselves when the situation demanded it.

Then again, Gumball could call Carrie's name five times and then she would appear right in front of him, possibly holding Darwin's hand long enough to have him there too. Alas, he couldn't really come between them and decided to let them travel the underworld undisturbed.

Meanwhile, Anais, Gumball's little sister, had also left the house when she was just sixteen and off to college. It took her a while, but having to deal with her bigger brothers' antics forced her to delay her academic rise to prominence. Instead of raising a family, however, she was still dead set on becoming the most intelligent mind of the world. Surely enough, her academic records and extracurricular achievements had been so impressive that by the time she was twelve, she was already attending a major league college. And now, she was accepted into a research facility outside the country! Contact between her and her family was sparser than they anticipated, but she made an effort to call home every now and then.

For now, Gumball and his family were set on living a normal life. But as far as anyone knew them, normal was just not a thing.

Gumball shut the engine to his car before giving his son one last look. His posture had not changed since leaving the school grounds, still dazing out along the way. The two got off the vehicle, still not talking to each other as they traversed through the pathway leading to the front door.

**BANG!**

Just when they were about to settle into their humble abode, a fiery projectile crashed its way out the door, spiralling towards the two Wattersons, causing them to duck in panic. The burning object zoomed towards the sky before it exploded.

Saved by their instinctive response to danger, Gumball and Sunbeam looked up to see the explosion die down in the dimming sky. From out of the forming smoke cloud, something came down and crashed to the grassy lawn, revealing itself to be the dented, smoking wreck of a cooking pot. Black, crispy bits were found within the burnt inside, giving Gumball a good idea what happened. The father then turned to the front door and yelled to the culprit he knew would cause such a disaster.

"What the what?!" shouted Gumball. "Penny! Did you add rocket fuel in that thing?!"

Penny Watterson.

The woman Gumball found love with had jumped out of the front door to see the blast of smoke that shot out of the sky. The yellow fairy (and former peanut), with an apron wrapped around her, fluttered over with her wings in a hurry, to see the two on the ground. Her hands covered her mouth as she gasped, ripe with panic.

"I'm sorry, dear!" she cried. "I was cooking up another recipe your Mom showed me the other day and, well, I may have put in a little too much chilli."

"It's fine, Penny." sighed Gumball before he moved over to give his wife a peck on the cheek. "We'll just settle for some Chinese." After a brief moment of happiness looking at each other, Penny turned her attention to the boy behind Gumball. Her hands landed on her hips and her face turned into a serious one.

"And you, young man?" she spoke with authority. "What do you have to say for yourself?" At this point, Sunbeam would grovel in fear at the power of his mother. This time, there was the same reaction he gave his father; nothing but unspoken sadness. When he would whimper or cry in desperation, there was only the voice of defeat.

"I'll go get dressed." Sunbeam muttered, body slanted forward as he walked back into the house. Penny was surprised by this unforeseen series of emotions. Usually, when Sunbeam was being called out for causing trouble, he would be running back in, screaming in dread over any form of retaliation. This time, there was nothing; just an empty, soulless-like boy. It was more than enough to make all of Penny's disappointment at the boy vanish into thin air.

"Bad day?" she asked Gumball, noticing that he was also feeling blue, not literally, of course.

"You have no idea."

* * *

After a rather quiet period of time before dinner, the entire family gathered at the table. By the time their last-minute dinner had arrived, night time had already engulfed the area. The dining room was especially lit with a suspended lamp above the table as the four members of the Watterson family ate in silence.

Gumball was quite famished after his rough day at work, slurping up his noodles after rolling up the strands with a fork. The rest were just as content to use the chopsticks provided to them with the delivery; Gumball was never one to be fully committed to learning new cultures. At least that was one thing that hadn't changed from the blue cat.

Penny watched her husband scoffing up his food like some barbarian, disgusted by his lack of table manners. She chose to say nothing, however. He was just too stubborn to change everything about his lifestyle, no matter how much he had grown. Still, she couldn't complain much. After all, there wasn't anyone else she would choose for a husband.

The marriage was widely celebrated… save for a few exceptions…

Once they went off on their own, the couple had begun to shape their lives together, making new adventures and finally settling in with a family to raise and care for. And that was how Sunbeam and his little sister came to be…

Speaking of whom, the green cub hadn't even taken a single nibble on his food, only swirling the full box of noodles in his hand. He still moped about the terrible day he had, which perplexed his parents. There was a really good amount of such bad days, but usually they ended with Sunbeam making some desperate plea or apology before he hurriedly vowed never to mess up again.

_Like father, like son_, Penny would muse to herself.

The resemblance was quite obvious. One quick look at the family, and you'd spot the details Sunbeam adopted from his parents. From Gumball, it was definitely his whole look, being the humanoid cat form, with the ears, the whiskers and the tail to match. But from Penny, he had those wings behind his back, plus the ability to shapeshift into some creatures. The colour of his fur grew green, mixed from his father's blue fur and his mother's yellow skin.

Hard to imagine that the boy was actually once a peanut; his shell cracked at an early age to reveal the true cat form underneath.

In contrast, the little girl next to Penny, little Raven Watterson, was happily learning how to use the chopsticks, having the curiosity to try and eat as courteously as her mother. Almost seven years old, she was the little bundle of joy in the family… except with a few special conditions…

Unlike Sunbeam, she was still in her shell, having only holes for eyes and a mouth, but with strands of eyelashes escaping them. Her ears, unlike Penny before her, were also taken from Gumball's cat ones. They suspected she'd look just like Sunbeam if she would come out of her shell. However, that was a risk not worth taking yet.

Even when Penny and Sunbeam managed to break out of their own shells, the process of breaking one's shell was still new. It was once discouraged to break out according to Penny's old family; a tradition that lasted for generations. The mother of two was the first in such a really long time to break that tradition, so any further possibilities to break Raven open was too new to take chances.

In Penny's defence, her own shell was broken when she was at the right age of twelve. Sunbeam's breaking happened due to a stunt he pulled at eight years old. Either way, there was no risking Raven's safety yet, at least, until she was about the safest age to try.

For now, the family was content with what they had... for now...

It was back to that soulless dinner; no one even trying to bring up any discussion. So, Penny's solution? Talk about school.

"So…" she started. "What happened in school today, Sunbeam?"

"I don't want to talk about it, Mom." muttered Sunbeam, still sour.

"Oh, come on, honey. It can't be any worse that what your father did at the factory today." laughed Penny, though her gaze towards Gumball suggested a different feeling.

"Really, Penny?" groaned Gumball. "You want to push this further than it needed to be?" Penny just rolled her eyes at her husband's rebuttal. Then, another groan escaped from Sunbeam's mouth. The boy didn't feel like there was any point keeping the chaos to himself, so he might as well spill the beans while there was time to repent.

"Okay. You want to know the story? Fine."

After a rather gloomy retelling of the events today, from the enthusiastic planning to the moment things went south, Sunbeam recounted his tale with pure disdain.

"That was how my dreams of being the life of the party and my plans of finally getting Pearl's attention all went down the drain… And how the whole school suffered the worst flooding since 2011."

"2011?" said Penny, puzzled. "Oh, I remember that incident very well. Wasn't that **your** fault, Gumball?" Her eyes narrowed dangerously at Gumball, remembering the day Sunbeam's own father caused a very similar disaster at the same school sixteen years ago.

"What?! You gotta admit; that pool party plan was the bomb." defended Gumball, proud of the party he and his brother had planned for months.

"It got you and Darwin forty-eight hours of detention. Forty-eight hours without being allowed to go home! How could any kid cause that much trouble?"

"The kid that you ended up marrying."

At this point, Penny could have opened her mouth and argued. Having to do much of the housework, any sneaky joke that escaped Gumball's mouth would have triggered a chaotic reaction from the stressed housewife, potentially causing her body to literally transform into a hideous red demon with venomous snakes for hair! Or worse, she could be a fire-breathing dragon and burn the whole house down!

This time, however, she just sighed, giving her husband a deadpanned stare with no transformations. She loved him too much to start a heavy argument, and given that he made his move with a cheesy but romantic comeback, her heart forced her to cool down.

Such was the price to pay for being in a relationship since they were twelve.

"Touché." Penny grumbled before she continued to take another bite out of her noodles. After chewing, she turned to her daughter, who was trying to twist up a strand with only one chopstick and barely catching the noodle into her mouth.

"Raven, sweetie." cheered Penny, attempting to brighten up the mood. "Why don't you tell Daddy what you did in school today?" After eating up the noodle, Raven's face lit up and she jumped off her chair. She ran to the living room to pick up a drawing from the coffee table and went back to show her dad what she made.

"Look!" cheered Raven with the brightest of voices. Upon showing, the bundle of joy showed a picture that she drew in art class, excited to show her dad. When Gumball looked at it, he faced a totally different feeling.

"Uh, Raven." Gumball stuttered, unsure of what to make of the drawing. "That's a drawing of a cherry being mauled to death by a swarm of bats." He would expect Penny to stare disapprovingly of his comment, but he didn't need to. When Raven moved her face towards him, she flashed a rather dark and angry glare, with a force of darkness that felt like something was crushing Gumball by the heart. It wasn't a violently aggressive stare. Something more like the slow, evil look Penny gave him during her late pregnancy stages. A blood-curdling aura would threaten to choke the life out of Gumball at times when Raven gave him that stare and it would make him tremble in a cold sweat.

"It's my masterpiece, Dad…" growled Raven, her voice still high-pitched, but growling with anger. Gumball simply gave in under the pressure and chuckled sheepishly, sweat still drippling down his face and teeth still chattering together.

"Ehehe." chuckled Gumball. "That's beautiful, sweetheart."

There was no doubt where Raven got that 'special' power from. Gumball and Penny refused to answer for reasons well beyond their children's comprehension. In the meantime, the mother of two sighed at the predicament. There was nothing they could do to solve this habitual phase when Raven would face her father.

However, back to the dinner, Penny wanted to cheer her son up. She was still not very pleased about what he did, but this was over a matter that she felt was a whole new story altogether. She could always talk about the bad stuff later and focus on making her son feel better before delivering the list of punishments. That was what separated her from her mother-in-law. Yes, Penny was prone to heating up her attitude when discipline was needed, but when push came to shove, she felt there was more need for compassion before anything else. That was the Penny everyone knew and loved.

"Don't worry, honey. I'm sure you'll get the chance to talk to Pearl again soon enough. I hear she's a lovely little girl." assured Penny with the warmest of smiles.

Unfortunately, that compassionate talk was about to be jeopardized when Gumball tried to intervene.

"Yeah. You just have to try a little harder to get her attention. Next time, maybe you can try something even wilder! Something extravagant!"

"No, Gumball. We are not going to put him in another wild good chase." grumbled Penny, annoyed of his needless talk.

"But that doesn't mean it shouldn't work for him. I mean, he just has to be a little more careful with the school and everything should be fine." defended Gumball.

"Honey. We all know you're terrible at giving romantic advices." added Penny, getting more riled up. The two soon locked each other in an uncomfortable showdown of parental opinions; one that Sunbeam did not have the time and space to deal with.

"What? You don't think I can help him achieve his dreams?" argued Gumball.

"Of course, you can."

"He can achieve whatever he wants to do, just without your meddling!"

As much as he wanted to drown out the noise, Sunbeam couldn't ignore the words they would say to each other in these spats. The words exchanged kept reminding him of the failures he suffered today.

_The desire to achieve something…_

_The failure to accomplish that desire…_

The argument was not helping him in this case, but when it began to come to a climax, he wouldn't take it anymore.

"At least I'm helping him do something!" shouted Gumball.

"You're **not **helping!" Penny fought back with equal ferocity. "You're only making it **worse**!"

"STOP!"

The whole family, including Raven, stopped. A single cry echoed through the room, almost loud enough to frighten a whole flock of vultures. Everyone looked to the kid who was unable to take the pressure from his arguing parents. This whole debacle had been nothing but the needless repeat of what he had to endure today. The fact that his parents were fighting because of his troubles… The inability to make things right for the people around him…

_The thought of making things __**worse**__…_ That was the tipping point that made him scream.

Sunbeam huffed, his fingers running through his temple. With one jump and an angry push of his chair underneath the table, he turned off and stormed up the stairs.

"I'm going upstairs." he growled, irritated to the core. As he disappeared up the steps, the whole family remained quiet for the next minute, unable to shake off what had happened. After the moment was over, Penny stared at Gumball again, resuming her stance against him.

"Great. Now look what you've done." uttered Penny.

"Me?" continued Gumball. "You're the one who bashed me in front of him."

"Well, I-!" But as Penny was about to shout again, she suddenly stopped, sitting back and rubbing her forehead. She took a few seconds to cool off before telling her husband to cease the whole thing. "Gumball, let's just stop."

The father could not agree more. Seating himself back to finish his meal, he had finally agreed to ending the argument.

"Fine."

Once their quiet dinner came to an end, Penny left the table and led Raven back to her room, hoping to defuse whatever curiosity or negative emotions she was going through. They left Gumball behind, who was sure that Raven was casting him another deadly glare that he felt all too well.

Ignoring the pain, the family man slumped onto the table, feeling the depression sink in, just as much as it did his son. He veered sadly behind him. The couch that laid there for him to relax, the TV that was waiting to be switched on… Those were not going to help him this time. This was a situation that was too worrisome to ignore; that whatever chance to make things better for him and his son had finally snapped off.

Never before in his fatherly days had he been faced with such a hopeless situation. There was the malfunction he caused in the factory, forcing his mother to pay off expensive repairs. His son was at risk of finally being expelled from Elmore Junior High after suffering a humiliating failure. And now, with all of this combined, the family was completely overwhelmed by doubt and insecurity.

Gumball took his time to sit alone, contemplating on where it had all gone wrong and desperately prayed for a way to fix things.

* * *

After a while, Gumball finally left the table and proceeded upstairs to check on the family, still guilty of being at the centre of the family's frustrations. He wanted to check on Penny and Raven first, but he figured they needed some space. So, he resorted to standing out the door of his son's room.

And there he stood, waiting. Waiting and desperately hoping for a chance to talk things down. The quiet of the night lingered; the only thing he heard was the sounds of crickets outside and the muffled sound of Penny's voice as she talked to Raven in the other room. He leaned against the wall for a good amount of time, still unable to move in and talk to his son.

He knew Sunbeam didn't want to be disturbed for the night and, instinctively, he just couldn't pick up the courage to talk, fearing that his usual misfortunes would make things worse.

That was the curse Gumball had to go through when he was at his lowest. He couldn't help but feel that he had hurt hundreds of people of Elmore by doing the most unimaginable things to them and only now, as an adult, did he feel the guilt.

That guilt had caused him to hesitate at times. He didn't want to risk getting himself and those around him in trouble, especially when they were at their lowest point. As such, he was forced to rethink his options and help at a much more limited level than he originally had as a kid. His mom always told him to forget about his past deeds and move on. Honestly, though, he couldn't brush it off as the weight of his wrongdoings was too much for him to handle in one go.

It was even more painful tonight, considering that he was unable to cheer his own son up. Gumball was always the loving person to go to when Sunbeam was at his saddest, always relying on the optimistic charm and cheery love that kept him through the day. Here, it failed to work, and the thought of not being able to make his son happy was eating away at Gumball's heart.

He thought of sitting down, overcome by tiredness and stress, but his determination kept him standing. He was eager to show Sunbeam that he truly cared, that he would wait out the night if he had to. Alas, his eyes were shutting down, slowly putting him a dire, drowsy state that was sure to knock him out in a few more minutes.

That was, until a sweet, tender melody called out to him…

"Honey." Gumball nearly jumped. As he turned to where Raven's room was, he saw Penny emerging from the door. She spotted the man slowly falling asleep, wondering why he was standing outside. The sad look on his face told her what she needed to know. Her husband was still overcome by Sunbeam's own sadness and the argument they had only helped to further that emotional wreck.

And to be frank, Penny was feeling just the same.

The two met up. Gumball would have come up with some stupid excuse when had to apologize to someone. Not this time; Penny was just too endearing of a loved one to be foolish with.

"Penny, I-" Gumball uttered. "I'm sorry."

"Me too." Penny returned the apology, bringing her arms around her husband as they embraced. "I know you've had it hard at the factory today, and Sunbeam was really upset. Mothers can't help it sometimes. You know what I mean?"

Gumball nodded. Yes, he understood. After all, he couldn't recall how many times he made his mother miserable in his usual antics, but he knew there were too many to even count. Finally realizing the pain only made him feel more regret and he vowed to never inflict such misery to his new family.

It was such a shame, then, that his promise could not be fully fulfilled.

"And I, as the man of the house, should have been more attentive."

Not only did he upset his son with his constant foolishness, but he also got himself in another verbal brawl with the woman he vowed to love forever. Not that it was his first argument with her; it was just that he was so naïve of their relationship as kids that he'd easily give up and conceded to Penny because he couldn't think about breaking the relationship apart. Now, things were not as simple; he did have his reasons to argue back.

And yet, it still hurt to shout and fight; both for him and Penny.

There were those days when the husband and wife came to blows over how they raised their children. Penny preferred the old motherly approach, tending to their kids with optimism while also encouraging them to make their own decisions, as she once did after breaking from her shell. Gumball, however, wanted to give his kids the best he could, offering to help them overcome their problems and let them feel the joy of their success, in which Penny argued was undermining their sense of independence.

Regardless of how they chose to care for their kids, the couple could never **ever** find a reason to doubt their relationship. They owed each other for so much that it was practically impossible to separate them, as if even the thought of divorce had not once crawled in their mind the slightest.

Besides, they relied on each other's strengths to provide a balanced flow of duty in the family and in most cases, it's worked out well for them. As the kids got older, however, it got a little more complicated. Nevertheless, they were still committed to taking the challenge of raising their pre-teen son and younger daughter.

Gumball had grown out of the fear of an immediate ending to the relationship once they were married. However, there was still the habitual sense of worry that would strike his heart when they do start arguing. But rest assured; Penny was always there, still willing to cling on to him to the end.

"Forget me. I think Sunbeam's the one who's hit the hardest today." sighed Gumball, returning his sad gaze at his son's room.

"Is he okay?" asked Penny, also worried.

"He hasn't left the room yet, not even for a toilet break." answered Gumball. "Poor kid. Bummed out because he tried to do something meaningful for the woman he loves."

"You really think throwing a surprise party in the middle of class was a good idea?" muttered Penny. "I mean; forget the fireworks and the flooding hazards. Doing this stuff without the school's permission, let alone **ours, **was probably cutting it a bit too far."

"Okay. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea." chuckled Gumball, rubbing the back of his head. His thoughts then lingered on the warning he had received from the school, bringing him back to his hopeless state.

"Principal Brown has given him one last warning. If he flunks this test, he's out of there. I don't know what other school would accept him if his records go out there." Finally, his tired body could take no more. Gumball sank down to the floor, leaning his back against the wall and holding his legs to his chest. "I just want to help him any way I can. I'm just not sure how right now."

These past few months were the busiest he had ever had, often taking his time off from his family to help his mom at work. As such, he had lost touch of his trademark 'fatherly love skills', not having enough time to speak with him or play the usual games with him. Things began to feel a little down between the two afterwards, but Gumball had to choose work over family at the moment; it was a great chance to get more money for the family. Once he was done, maybe he could finally relax and spend a few days off to have fun with them.

But Penny refused to give up on him. If there was one thing Gumball was a master at, he was capable of talking things out, even after the dangers and the situations he had were over. Not all of his talks were meaningful or successful enough to walk off unscathed, but the attempt was there and it did end up making him more honest than he refused to admit.

And this was Sunbeam they were talking about. The undying love between father and son could not be broken after just one bad day, so there was still a good chance that Gumball could manage to make things right with his son. All he needed was some assurance of the fact.

Penny brought herself down to Gumball's level. She then caressed her hand onto his chin and raised his head to face her. Giving him the warmest of smiles, she told him what she would have him do.

"Go talk to him." she quietly said.

"I dunno." cried Gumball. "Usually, I light up his world like no one else. Well, except you, of course. Like, figuratively and literally. Today, it didn't work."

"You've been very busy as of late, Gumball." told Penny. "He just feels sad that he can't see you every day. Spend some time with him. Now that you're home, make the most of it with him."

"But how?"

Wanting to shake her husband out of his shell, sort to speak, Penny moved her head closer to his, planting her lips onto his in a brief but loving kiss, which Gumball quickly returned after getting the shock and thrill from it. All at once, the depression seemed to have been dispelled, almost enough for the man to turn his focus on Penny. It was the medicine she needed to cure her husband of his condition.

"You're Gumball." she told him with sincerity. "You think of a way. Just don't suggest things that would cost us millions."

The love Penny showed him reminded Gumball of his own love for his son. He was there to fill any void that Sunbeam was going through. No matter how old he got or how bad the days were, Gumball was always the one to bring him back to his full self. If anyone was to talk to Sunbeam on his pre-teen problems, then he was the one to do it.

Suddenly, the confidence swam right back to his heart. The spark had fired up and fuelled newfound hope that was lost earlier that day. His legs rose back up and soon, Gumball was given a renewed sense of fatherly power that could cheer his son up again.

Taking a look at the door, Gumball's face beamed with that old, grinning face that spelt pure determination. Clenching his fists, his heart soared and it felt like being given an extra life in this video game of parenthood.

"You're right!" he cheered. "I'll talk to him!" His revived enthusiasm earned him a giggle from Penny, who held both of his hands together with hers.

"That's the Gumball I love." she lovingly said.

"Did I ever tell you how grateful I am to have you as my wife?" asked Gumball.

"About a billion times. Actually, a billion and **one**, counting twelve hours ago."

"And I'll keep on saying it until we get buried up at Carrie's front yard, which is kind of morbid when you think about it…"

Once the two finally resolved their problems together, it was time for Gumball to get to work on talking with Sunbeam. That meant Penny could finally give herself some time off and let him end the night on a hopeful note.

"I'll prepare something small in the kitchen. Holler if you need me." she offered.

"Sure, dear." said Gumball before he turned around and prepared to enter his son's room.

As she watched Gumball enter the room, Penny mustered up a warm smile. For all of his huge faults and mistakes, he still proved to an excellent husband and a more excellent father to their two kids. There was no one else who could make her life this happier than he could. She knew exactly what she got into from becoming part of the Watterson family, a family most infamous for being the magnets of Elmore's worst troubles. And it was all worth it…

Gumball Watterson wasn't the perfect husband, but he was much more than that. He was the **right** husband.

* * *

Sunbeam's room was dark, only illuminated by the combination of a mere table lamp on his desk and the low dimming flashes of his lit fur. The green lighting from his fur wasn't common, only happening in low-light environments; something like glowing in the dark. Another by-product of his parents' genes, he supposed.

The bleak and slow strobing of his fur's lights also seemed to signify emotional stress. Usually, at his happiest moments, his fur would shine the brightest, often as bright as his mother's gelatine-like skin. Tonight, he clearly wasn't feeling any of it.

Sitting on his lone bed, the twelve-year-old sat quietly, unable to rest his head on his pillow. Lines of dried up fluid were stuck to his face after shedding a few tears. He cuddled himself to an upright position, wrapping himself up with his blanket as he moped.

In his head, he had all of these negative thoughts running in his head, added with the recent squabbling his parents were giving each other earlier. He couldn't even get up and head to the bathroom without triggering eye contact with his parents after his outburst at the table during dinner. All he wanted was uninterrupted sleep before he would have to deal with them the next morning, left alone to weep his regrets away in anguish.

**KNOCK! KNOCK!**

Sunbeam's lone moment of isolation was put to an end when two gentle knocks on the door sounded off. Even the soft taps ticked him off, threatening his space and privacy. Irritated, Sunbeam threw the blanket over himself and refused to budge.

"Come on, Sunbeam. Open the door." The muffled voice of his dad from behind the door was left ignored.

"No." urged Sunbeam.

"Sunbeam. This isn't funny." warned Gumball. "You know your mother doesn't like it when you lock yourself in your room."

"Too bad." Sunbeam continued to defy his father's requests to enter. However, what followed was a brief moment of silence. Just a minute of no contact. You might think this meant that Gumball got the message, but Sunbeam knew his dad was not a quitter. If anything, the quietness meant that he had other ideas to get in the room and when it came to Gumball, he had plenty.

"I don't know, kid." mused the father with a snarky tone. "It'd be a disaster if I called your mom up here and have her bust the door open." All at once, the threat was made clear as the strands of Sunbeam's fur shot up in repulse, lighting back up in absolute alarm with a brilliant green glow. The tone of his father's voice told him that he was true to his word. With one loud scream, Gumball shouted out to his wife downstairs.

"Penny!"

"OKAY! OKAY!" Finally, Sunbeam gave up. He conceded his stubborn hold with sweat dropping down like a rainstorm. Though bitter about the trick, he knew better than to have his mother come up and discipline him again.

From the other side, Gumball smirked victoriously. Truth be told; he was glad Sunbeam gave in, not because he wanted him to do so, but mainly because he, too, wished to avoid an angry spat from his wife about the rules in the house.

"Yes, dear?!" called Penny. Gumball turned around to respond to her call from below.

"Nothing, honey! Just checking!" Afterwards, the door opened up with an audible creak. As Gumball peered in, he spotted his son, still sporting that bitter look on his face. Closing the door behind him, the father-son conversation could begin.

However, it didn't start well as Sunbeam spun away from his father's face.

"What do you want, Dad?" uttered Sunbeam rudely, unable to speak without looking at Gumball directly in the face.

"Now, son." sighed Gumball. "That's no way to talk to your father."

"I really don't want to talk about it, Dad." defended Sunbeam. Gumball remained quiet, unsure if he should keep going or just leave his son be.

"Come on, Sunbeam. Don't you want to have a little talk with your-?"

"No!" exclaimed Sunbeam, fed up with continuing. "I don't want to! My day has been bad enough!" Then, after a small burst of frustration, Sunbeam paused, regretting his rise in volume. Fearing that he may have upset his father, the boy groaned, lowering his time. "Please, Dad. You're just wasting your time."

Gumball wanted to oblige, not wanting to bother Sunbeam any longer. His hand was about to reach the doorknob so he could move out. But then, his heart began to tell him otherwise.

_**No**_, he thought. _Keep going. You're never going to fix the problem if you're going to run. You're his father, so you be there for him!_

The father in him kicked in, remembering the words of wisdom his own dad gave him when Sunbeam was about to be born to this wacky world, which was crazy given the fact Richard wasn't really the brightest man out there. But the advice stayed true to his heart, now about to be put to use for his pre-teen son.

"Son." he called with all of his fatherly love. "You're never going to solve your problems if you keep turning away from the people who want to help. Your Mom and I don't want to see you like this. We really love you, Sunbeam. We always have your back." He reached for the side of the bed, crouching down to Sunbeam's level. "So, please, tell me. Tell me only what you need to say."

The fury in Sunbeam grew until there was nothing more he could hold. The point of hiding his feelings from Gumball was meaningless to him, so he might as well get it all out of his chest.

"I messed up." growled Sunbeam, finally opening up and faced his father with an angered tone. "I screwed up the whole school, lost the chance to be Pearl's friend and am now in trouble with the Principal! I made myself the biggest screwball in all of Elmore and will very well be one in the next town we move to!

"Is that what you wanted me to say?!" With a mighty yell that could have alerted the whole household, Sunbeam made his father jump in sudden shock.

One look at Gumball's stunned face forced Sunbeam to retreat back away from him. Regret began shooting back into him as he felt a heavy sense of guilt for raising his voice. Worse still, he may have alerted his mother downstairs and woken up Raven in the other room. The whole family could very well have another uncomfortable night.

Honestly, however, Sunbeam couldn't care; too much crap was already shoved into him, so there was no point being resilient. Finally, the emotional breakpoint had snapped his heart, causing his eyes to tear up as he sobbed painfully. Silently, he sobbed underneath from behind his arms.

"I just wanted to be a good friend. I don't want people calling me a freak." whispered Sunbeam, remembering the harsh words the girls gave him at school.

Gumball's saddened look lingered while his son's back was faced towards him. The feeling of understanding taking its place as he felt Sunbeam's pain. As far as he had gone through, the former harbinger of chaos was no stranger to crude insults either. What his old friends used to call him when he was Sunbeam's age weren't exactly mild to begin with, let alone hurtful.

But there was one thing he could say about Sunbeam. He took in his breath and let it out, telling his son the truth.

"Yes." said Gumball. "You are a freak."

Sunbeam's heart sank deeper. Could his father really think he was some weird-looking fool who was nothing but a nuisance to him, just as his classmates thought so? It definitely must have been payback for being so rude to him, which made him feel guiltier than before.

But then, Gumball continued on, his tone lighter and cheerier.

And you know who else is a freak?" he continued. His fingers then wriggled with glee, his face forming a grin that spelled trouble for Sunbeam. When the boy looked at his father for a quick peek, it was too late to back out as Gumball threw his hands out to grab him. "Your old man!"

Sunbeam couldn't fly out in time as Gumball snatched him into his arms and the father began to tickle him at the stomach. Sunbeam couldn't break free from the tight grip his dad had, feeling the continuous tickling on his body and unable to stop laughing. Gumball chuckled on and continued his attack, making the boy laugh even more.

The tickling assault lasted for about a minute, with Sunbeam trying to resist to no avail. Gumball was not about to let him go until the boy outright declared his surrender. After a minute, the tickling came to an end.

"Okay! Stop!" begged Sunbeam amidst the laughing. Hearing his surrender, Gumball stopped the tickling, letting the boy reel and relax his body. After the funny feeling was gone, Sunbeam looked up at his father, both now exchanging warm smiles after such a hectic day. All feeling of guilt and shame were gone, vanished into thin air. Now, there was only warmth and love, just as everything should be.

Gumball placed his son back down to the bed, both now sitting side by side. He wanted to put the boy on his lap, but with Sunbeam at the age of twelve, he figured he wouldn't be too comfortable being treated like a toddler.

"Look at me, son." Gumball said sweetly. "Do you really think everyone is normal? Our next-door neighbour's a fidget spinner."

"And what about your Mom? Sure, she's beautiful. But it's not every day you see a fairy like her and a clumsy old runt like me being the parents of two special kids." He then nudged Sunbeam gently on the shoulder, causing the boy to chuckle. "And then, who else? Two twin skunks, a walking, talking Wi-Fi router, triplet peas in a pod, and..."

"A cat with green glowing fur and two wings?" continued Sunbeam, fluttering his wings.

"Yep! The most special one." Gumball agreed, giving the boy a soft, loving hug and the reminder that the very town they lived in was full of extraordinary beings. "See? We're all different. No one's perfect. In this town, normal isn't even in our dictionary." With a soothing palm on Sunbram's shoulder, the father of two continued to assure him of the qualities of life.

"You just need time to see the good side of yourself and show everyone how awesome you can be by being yourself."

"But… how can I do that without messing up?"

"Sunbeam. We're Wattersons. Trouble just finds us, no matter how hard we try." said Gumball. If the years of never-ending mayhem didn't stop him then, it wouldn't stop Sunbeam either. It was the family way of dealing with their problems by taking in the danger and riding the storm, no matter how often it happened. All that was important was to never give up, even when people are against them.

"And more importantly, we all make mistakes." he added. "Don't you know how much of a rascal I was when I was your age? Heck, your Uncle Darwin and I were the worst! Never a day without us messing with people.

"And yet, here I am. A proud father of two little munchkins." Mischief kicking in again, Gumball gave his son a noogie on the head, rubbing his fist gently onto his forehead.

"Dad…" laughed Sunbeam.

"All you have to do is embrace the trouble and make it yours!" the man cheered. But then, Sunbeam's face dropped again, gloomed by what a certain girl in school might have thought about him now. The downed look didn't go unnoticed by Gumball.

"You really like this Pearl girl, do 'ya?" asked Gumball. Sunbeam nodded sadly. "Then, it's not too late to try and try again." "As your Uncle Darwin once said;

"_When the fish swims up the waterfall, you just kick your gills in and flush your tail out to brave the waves!" _

"Or was it 'Kick your **tail** and flush your **gills'**…?" Gumball shrugged his shoulders, dismissing whether his brother's advices were even solid to begin with, despite being the happiest fish known to man. "Heh, the stuff he says never really bodes well."

"But... she probably won't even talk to me." sighed Sunbeam.

"Well, was she the one to call you a freak?" asked Gumball again. This time, Sunbeam shook his head from side to side. From his son's response, Gumball mustered an encouraging smile. "Then, chances are; she might not think so."

"Really?" beamed Sunbeam (**pun not intended**).

"You won't know unless you try." answered Gumball. It didn't really give Sunbeam the best of hope. Then again, he expected things weren't going to be the way he wanted. It's a start, he supposed.

"All I'm saying is; don't give up on your goals." explained Gumball again, using all the experience he had with his own pursuit of his one true love. "You know how many times I had to embarrass myself before I finally went out with your Mom? A couple hundred times! But it never stopped me from trying again and again, until we finally tied the knot." After reminiscing for a little while, Gumball then put his hand on the son he had raised from that love.

"Do your best and make the most of your situation. Sooner or later, the world will know what Sunbeam Watterson can do."

Sunbeam's eyes began to water again, but out of undying gratitude and assuring love for his father. To know how much faith his parents had for him, it touched him to the core and replenished his hopes, filling back the motivation he so longed for.

"Thanks, Dad." said Sunbeam. "I'm sorry about today."

"It's alright, son. You just needed time to unwind; that's all." assured Gumball. Now that the crisis had been resolved, it was time to settle other businesses. The fact remained that Sunbeam was still in hot water with the school, let alone his classmates.

"But for now, you need to get those grades up." reminded Gumball. "Just because I'm letting you off today, that doesn't mean you're out of it tomorrow." Sunbeam's confidence began to waver again. He still felt elated that things were fixed between him and his family, but there was still a lot more fixing he had to do. Who knew how much more could he take to mend the wrongs of the day?

"Promise your mother and me that you'll slow down and be more focused on your homework, okay?"

Reminded of the courage he had been given by his father, Sunbeam built up some of that Watterson pride, eager to make proper use of it to make things right.

"I'll try." said Sunbeam, unsure whether he would manage to make it through, but still devoted to give it a shot.

"That's my boy!" cheered Gumball. With the talk finally coming to an end, the man could let loose the father of all yawns. The amount of energy poured into his conversation really did a lot of damage to his state of mind.

"Now, get some sleep. You have a big day, tomorrow." told Gumball as he left for the door. Before he closed it and left his son to sleep, he gave Sunbeam one last look of faith, wishing him all the best. "Ace that test, and maybe, you'll have another shot at making people smile."

Sunbeam gave him a nod, tired just as much as his dad was. Throwing the blanket on top of him, the boy rested his head on the pillow, ready to drift off to whatever zany dream world he would end up in next.

"Goodnight, Dad." whispered Sunbeam.

"Night, son." wished Gumball as he closed the door and left Sunbeam to his slumber.

* * *

Once he was out, Gumball let out a huge breath of air, feeling a mixture of victory and extreme drowsiness, all at the same time. Then, from downstairs, Penny came up to find the man completely tired. She had heard the small eruptions of volume coming from Sunbeam's room, almost prompting her to spur into action. Alas, she held back, leaving it all up to Gumball to make his son feel much better.

After one good look at her husband, she could see a grin on his face, even as it was weakened by the need to sleep.

"How's he doing?" she asked. Gumball took a moment to yawn before answering her.

"He's good now, but he's still got a lot of weight on his shoulders." he told her. "I'll know he can make a difference by this week." Happy to hear the father-son dynamic had saved the night, Penny moved over to give Gumball a peck on the cheek.

"That's all I need to hear." she cheered quietly. "See? I said you could do it."

"I do what I do best." gloated Gumball.

"What? Make a fool of yourself?" teased Penny as they both made their way to their room for a good night's sleep.

"Hahaha... Very funny."

* * *

As the night reached its peak, Sunbeam was tucked in nicely in his blanket, closing his eyes to get the sleep he so needed. His heart was still heavy, worries abound about what would happen next in school.

Could he make a straight face and take the heat of his actions? Would there be a chance to apologize to those he had hurt? Could he survive long enough to make a comeback at his grades?

Would Pearl ever talk to him again?

He wasn't sure how he could take all of these things head on. However, knowing that he had a loving family and a loyal friend in Dawn Luna by his side, he was hopeful that things would turn out just fine.

His eyes shut and his mind emptied for the trip to dreamland, Sunbeam uttered a few words to himself to signify a change. A change to succeed beyond his imagination. If trouble ever came by, he would face it to the end. That would all start by keeping his head high and his heart in the right place.

"Tomorrow… things will be better."

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	2. The Trouble

**A/N~ ****You know what's funny, but also troublesome at the same time? The fact that everyone tends to start their stories with about one-thousand words, more or less. And yet, for me, I started this with a whopping 10k words?!**

**Gee, I really hope I didn't go overboard XD **

**But I'm really glad that my story is off to a good start, judging by the feedback. I hope you guys continue to like it **** But be warned, this next chapter is going to be another huge ride!**

**Reviews**

**SK Shi**

**Thanks! I'm glad I hit the mark on the TAWOG feel of this story. To be honest, there's a lot more of a heartfelt tone, more than the TV show could ever give. But TAWOG is one of those shows that knows when to hit you hard with emotional depth, and I kinda want something similar here. I will get to the more comedic elements from here to there, so hopefully, I can hit the right mark **

**Also, thanks to **_**Azumadofu, DiamondDragon2003, Donolector25, I Am The Meta, Kenpachi Zoro, PublicCrown76, SK Shi, Spineshocker62645, The Disney Critic Gal, 4evaGumballFan345**_** and **_**Going on and on and on**_** for liking and following the story!**

* * *

**The Trouble**

Just another regular day at Elmore Junior High... At least that was what everyone hoped for after the total chaos that happened the day before.

Even the perpetrator who instigated the whole incident was praying to whatever holy entity could possibly be out there in this wacky world.

Strapped at the back of his family sedan, Sunbeam fiddled his fingers together, anticipating all the horrible things his schoolmates and teachers were about to say to him. He felt constricted by his own guilt and shame, like a prisoner on bail, returning to a world where no one would forgive him. He constantly shifted his gaze at all sides, looking out the windows to keep himself at bay. His hands were being coaxed into reaching for the door and making a quick getaway, but he relented.

For all his doubt, his heart was still set on getting through the week without messing up, promising himself and his parents that he would walk away scot-free without another bad record to his list. All he had to do was to do good with one test. One test and it was all over. The promise made to the school would be fulfilled and Sunbeam would be allowed to have his fun through the break.

As the car reached its stop, Sunbeam looked out the window again, taking in the sight of Elmore Junior High. At first, he was expecting something of a welcome wagon; lines of students eager to have their say or riot against him. But at first glance, all seemed normal. Students were still heading up the steps, exchanging talks with smiles and chuckles, as if nothing happened the day before. Surely, they could have spotted the sedan and recognized it as the usual mode of transportation of the Wattersons, before locking their sights on it and stare at the kid.

Alas, nothing too bad was happening. Everyone was just going by their day. But it wasn't enough to dispel the nervousness inside Sunbeam. The kid knew he was still going to have to go in there and meet them regardless. The thought of having to take in the gazes and stares was enough to make his heart race with fear.

"Here we are." called Penny, the mother sitting at the right seat in front of the boy. As she turned her head to look at her son, she saw the nervous boy unable to move his body, his eyes still glued on the school. "Sunbeam?"

"Is it too late to call sick today?" urged Sunbeam, having second thoughts.

"No." groaned Penny. "You were never going to feign any illness anyways. Not on my watch."

"Fine." sighed Sunbeam. "Let's just get this over with. A whole week of faint stares and attacks from Linda Jonah."

"You'll be fine." assured Gumball, hands on the steering wheel with the car still running. With one look of his own, the young man gave his son a beaming smile. The boy grinned back, warmed by the affection his parents gave him. The recent talk he and his father had last night had given Sunbeam a new ray of hope that he would face the consequences of his actions and live up to his family's word to not cause any more mayhem, at least until Sunbeam's test was over and done with.

"Now, get out there and do your best." cheered Gumball before giving his wife a deadpan stare. "Your mom and I have to head to the mall to get ourselves a new stove. And this time, we **both** look at the recipe we want to make next."

"As if you're the one to talk about cooking..." uttered Penny as she rolled her eyes. Chuckling at his parents' behaviour, Sunbeam then finally gained the courage to each out and opened the door, exposing himself to a larger world where people might have not been too welcoming of the magnet of trouble, but still, he felt he could make it out alright.

"Have a good day, kiddo." wished Gumball.

"You take care of yourself today, okay?" added Penny.

"Yeah." said Gumball as he exited the car. With one more look at his parents, he waved them goodbye before he would face his school. "Love you guys."

"Love you too, son." said both parents. They then faced forward and the car began to move away, leaving Sunbeam to fend for himself. The boy turned to the steps of the school, watching the rest of the students enter the building.

Sunbeam took one big breath before het it all out slowly, telling himself to remain calm and go into the building. He pushed his body upwards to steady his backpack before he finally moved towards the entrance. Every step he took was another moment of hesitance and guilt driven into him like shoving a loaf of bread into a lunchbox, if that was how his dad would put it.

Stepping up the steps, the boy felt himself being pulled back, wanting to run away to some far-out place where he could hide for the rest of the day; maybe even tell his parents that the school was having an extended holiday for the chaos caused the day before.

But he didn't go forth with his desperate plan. When he looked back, he knew there was no way out of the situation he was in. If he ran, it was only going to hurt himself and his family even more, especially after the father-son talk he had last night. Remembering his resolve, Sunbeam turned back to face the school. With his strength back, he made his way to the door, ready to take the school on like a man…

The first thing he thought of doing was to bash his way in and slam the doors open to show the world what he was made of. He balled his fist and prepared to smash the door in… only for him to stop and, after realizing that force wasn't necessary at the moment, slowly opened it as normal.

When he looked into the school hall, Sunbeam could see the whole lot of students who were getting ready for their first classes. Another gulp descended down his throat, the fear coming back to him as sweat began to drop down his face. As he stepped in, he was expecting the full force of the student body to retaliate in a riot and bring agonizing pain to him for what he had done.

After a few seconds with his eyes shut, Sunbeam opened them up, expecting a stampede to trample him down, strap him up and torture him with all kinds of bad stuff. When he looked at the hallway again, he was shocked to find…

Nothing…?

At once, his fears were replaced by utter confusion. Nothing changed. Just the same hall with the students still at their lockers or walking through the corridor; some even within close proximity to Sunbeam and even then, not a single person seemed to bother.

Somewhat surprised by the lack of revenge in the school, Sunbeam took another breather before moving forward, still keeping his eyes open for the first sign of trouble.

He kept walking, passing through student after student. As he looked on, he took in the cues, seeing if anyone would be so willing to avoid or strike out against him. But as far as the boy went, no one seemed to bat an eye or raise a warning sign at him. Two boys were talking to each other while a girl was busy tending to what looked like a Venus fly trap in her locker. One more kid was probably eating his usual rations of meatloaf behind his friends' backs while another trio of kids were taking bets to see who could run up a wall, only to end in complete and painful failure as each one slammed into the floor.

Overall, Sunbeam appeared to be safe from harm. No one seemed to care about what happened yesterday and, for a moment, it looked like he was free from everyone's blacklist.

However, after a while, Sunbeam began to notice that there were some occasional looks he got from particular students down the line. As slight as the hints were, Sunbeam could feel the hesitance coming from them. There were eyes still locked onto the kid, while some others slowly shifted their bodies away from him.

But overall, there wasn't anything too antagonistic; nothing above a threatening glare from Linda, the local bully, but then again, that girl was always giving deadly glares to other students, with reasons far more diabolical than what Sunbeam had done.

The monster truck girl was the new bad egg of the school after several infamous candidates such as Sunbeam's father's own bully, Tina. If Sunbeam wasn't the one doing the trouble in one day, it was always Linda who would start it herself. Sunbeam would do his absolute best to not be in the firing line of her hideous reign of terror, for anyone unlucky enough to be in front of her would have a brutal pounding as she would literally roll right over them, squashing them to the ground. The taste of asphalt and whatever other stuff Linda's been driving over was not a pleasant experience, mind you.

Thankfully, Sunbeam was one of the quickest students to avoid her wrath. The ability to shapeshift and fly to places unreachable to most proved to be very beneficial, allowing him to come off unscathed in most of Linda's assaults. Unfortunately, such swiftness and flexibility earned him the envy of others, not helping with his reputation in the school.

Alas, while everyone wasn't making any sudden moves on Sunbeam, he was well out of the way, safely moving forward without any retaliations.

At least for now.

But while he was out of his schoolmates' radar, he still had to go through another obstacle; the teachers. And minutes into the school, he was about to come face to face with them sooner than he thought.

"AHEM!" Sunbeam's fur nearly shot out of his skin when heard those coarse but powerful coughs coming from behind him. He spun around to see Principal Brown standing crossly with a very dangerous look on his face. The man may not be as terrifying as Miss Simian, but he made his authority known. It always mystified Sunbeam how his dad had never feared such a teacher in the school. He was frankly the second strictest teacher in Elmore Junior High, making his power known to the students that any misbehaviour would result in the appropriate punishments. Sunbeam, being the epicentre of the many problems in the school, was no stranger to such punishments. Detention was the usual norm for someone so easy to get into all sorts of shenanigans, and being the close companion of an intentional troublemaker didn't help.

"I hope that you understand the predicament you are in." said Principal Brown.

"Perfectly clear, sir!" cheered Sunbeam, though out of fear than determination.

"Good. I will hold your word on it. Remember, study hard and prepare for the test. And if there are any more mishaps…"

"No problem, Principal Brown!" interrupted Sunbeam, not wanting to hear what was already told. "From now on, Sunbeam Watterson is trouble-free!" Swiftly, the kid ran off to avoid eye contact with the bumbling principal.

Nigel Brown watched as the boy sped off into the distance. Sighing, he hoped that Sunbeam did follow on his word. At least there was one thing that made him different from his father before him; that he was more committed to do genuine good than the usual chaotic good Gumball was so notorious for.

"NIGEL!" The principal's fur shot up in all angles, shockwaves sent throughout his body as the screeching call of his beloved sent shivers down his spine. Behind his back, the old monkey of a teacher crept behind him with her hands firmly placed at her hips. Her scowling face beaming dangerously at the hallway that Sunbeam sped into.

"That brat…" growled the spiteful teacher. The day before, she hoped the Watterson kid would have acted on her threats and removed himself from school for good. Apparently, Sunbeam was as stubborn as his deplorable father ever was. "He shouldn't be here."

"Now, now, dear." Principal Brown took the teacher's hand into his own, patting the back of the furry appendage to calm the beast he had poured his heart into. "Let's not be too spiteful. I give my students second chances, even those you don't like."

No matter what her man said, Miss Simian could never lose the ugly feeling she had for children. To see someone filled with so much hope sickened her. It robbed her of another happy day to see people suffer, and she thought she was going to finally have it with Sunbeam's expulsion from Elmore Junior High.

But she couldn't do anything. Nigel Brown had made his point clear and if she wanted to keep his love, she would be forced to abide by the rules.

She kept gritting her teeth, not bothered to even muffle the grumbling she did while watching Sunbeam's declaration of a no-trouble week. But she kept her hopes up. If anything, the Wattersons couldn't live with a promise for even a few hours at most, let alone an entire day. Surely, when the time was right, the boy would break his promise and end up in direr trouble. Only then, she would act on it.

She swore that Sunbeam Watterson, of all the children she hated, would not last long to see his graduation day here…

* * *

Sunbeam continued to zip past the hallway towards his locker, avoiding more possible eyes and ears of his schoolmates. He stopped right outside his compartment and opened it up right away. He frantically checked inside for his belongings to see if everything was intact. His sketches, notes, and some trinkets he collected from past escapades were all untouched, much to his relief. After the hectic series of events that transpired yesterday, he was worried sick that his stuff was either wet from the flood, or vandalized by vengeful students wanting payback for ruining their day.

After checking his locker, Sunbeam continued to load his stack of books before taking out the ones he needed, preparing for the next class. He looked around for any signs of trouble nearby, expecting Linda to lurk around the corner to try and make a clear run through the corridor to roll him over. His wings were already poked out of the holes at the back of his shirt ready to lift him up to one of the many escape routes he had planned out in his entire school life. Those impromptu survival courses his dad gave him sure came in handy at most times and now, it was a good time to be hasty.

Sunbeam walked to his classroom, keeping his visual on all corners for the slightest hint of danger.

**PSST!**

"ARGH!" Sunbeam jumped and spun around when a hissing noise startled him. His green fur flashed all at once, creating an aura of light that blinked with his fear. The boy shook like a camel in the Arctic, shivering all over. Fearing that someone might be out to get their revenge, Sunbeam was about to brace for the nearest ventilation shaft, when he heard the hissing sound again.

Following the source, he saw the janitor's cupboard opposite his locker, noticing the doors slightly opened. Creeping slowly towards it, the boy wanted to take a good look inside to find whatever little sneak was hiding inside.

"Sunbeam!" But once he got close enough, the person inside spoke, calling out Sunbeam in a hushed whisper. When he looked closer, he finally realized who was hiding in there.

"Dawn? What are you doing?" asked Sunbeam. The fox girl looked out the cupboard, at both sides of the hallway before whispering back at Sunbeam.

"Concocting." she responded.

"Concocting what?" whispered Sunbeam, following on with the secrecy of it all.

"Get in here!" Dawn reached her hand and grabbed Sunbeam by the collar and pulled him in with her. The doors shut, leaving the two in dark and compacted space. Moments later, Dawn switched a flashlight on to illuminate the space around them. Now that they were alone, Sunbeam asked his friend what she was about to do that made her pull him into the cabinet.

"I'm not in the mood to ask." he sighed. "But I should. What's on your mind this time?"

"Okay. So, apparently, the other kids need some down time to ease their minds off the test for a while. I have a little plan to get them there." explained Dawn, rubbing her palms together. To Sunbeam, that was never a good thing whenever she did that.

"You're just hoping that we'd end up in detention again, aren't you?" said Sunbeam, totally unconvinced that this scheme of hers was primarily for the good of the students.

"What? Is it my fault that I enjoy the sorrows of pitiful kids as they tumble down the ladders of school excellence?" Dawn shrugged her shoulders dismissively.

"Continue." sighed Sunbeam.

"Okay. The plan's simple; you and I are going to rig the cafeteria's ice-cream maker and bring the joy of free tubs of chocolate crumble scoops for the whole day!"

Suddenly, a pang of excitement went off in Sunbeam's head. Just mentioning ice-cream was enough to fuel him with extreme delight; a day full of it was any kid's dream. Tempted to hear more, he let Dawn tell the rest.

"I've asked Hackman to help us with that. He will use his genius to get us into the kitchen and hack into the refrigerator. Because, you know, he's Hackman and he's… a hacker… Get it?" laughed Dawn as she attempted to put some haphazard joke in the plan. Sunbeam, however, didn't chortle one bit.

Of course, she would poke fun at the walking, sentient touchscreen pad and his talent for accessing electronic systems extremely secretive to most. Slapping her forehead, the fox girl continued with disgruntled disappointment. They would always contact him to find the most sensitive of documents or files that could help them take shortcuts through the school years. Unfortunately for them, Hackman had a moral code, preventing him from falling into their usual antics. Nevertheless, there were always subtle ways to make him do what they wanted him to do.

"So, Hackman gets us into the fridge, we get the ice-cream, smuggle it all out of the school and plan out a massive bonanza of free ice-cream!" cheered Dawn, though muffled enough to avoid any detection outside. "It's brilliant! Or should I say, _brrrrr-_iliant?!" Another fruitless joke went wasted with Sunbeam now staring unapprovingly of the attempt.

"One problem." interrupted Sunbeam. "What will the school do to us when we're done with it?"

"Oh, don't worry. My dad will vouch for us. He will get a legal statement, saying that the ice-cream was all his and the authorities will be none the wiser." stated Dawn. Sunbeam supposed her father would be enthusiastic of his kid making trouble at such a calibre.

But on to the task, the boy really wanted to go along with this plan. Who wouldn't want a cafeteria filled to the brim with tubs of glorious ice-cream? Instigating such a scheme would make him the most popular kid in school! Not to mention that the supplies of chocolatey goodness would give him the ultimate treat.

But then, his heart was starting to turn towards a different feeling of unease, his mind now stirring to a promise he made to his family. There was no way out this time; if another promise to the school was broken, it was all over for him. His family would have to find another school for him and everything will start to get messy from there.

However, it was a difficult decision to make; to choose between his family and his one only best friend.

"I-I… can't." he muttered.

"What?!" said Dawn, shocked that Sunbeam had rejected her plan. He had never skipped on anything that sounded fun and exciting, and now, of all times, he said he couldn't? "Why not?! It's going to be the biggest blast of ice-cream anyone could ever ask for!"

"I promised Mr. Brown that I lay low for this week until I pass that test." explained Sunbeam.

"Dude. Mr. Brown is just another boring old man who defies everything we youths stand for." mocked Dawn, still sour about how Principal Brown would ruin her mood every time he had to set them straight.

Sunbeam really wanted to have some fun with Dawn; the best moments of his time in school were always making the most out of every mistake or situation.

Dawn was just the friend Sunbeam needed, regardless of how notorious her family was. Maybe it was the habitual Watterson feeling that made him connect, or if it was those genuinely softer moments that the two did get into when they're not getting themselves into trouble. But when it came to having fun or causing trouble, Sunbeam couldn't be happier, even if their antics did land them in hot water most of the time.

It was difficult to say no. It really did hurt him to reject Dawn's request, but after thinking about his family, he just couldn't afford to risk getting himself into more danger. However, now that he thought about it, it was only for one week. Surely, after he would do his best in the test, then he would be free to do whatever they wanted, right?

Well, there were some things to be careful about, including something about a girl he hurt the day before…

"I-I can't, Dawn." said Sunbeam. "I promised my parents I wouldn't lift a finger on anything until the test is over. Otherwise, I'll be expelled indefinitely and we'll be forced to move out of town!"

Despite the sheer warning in his voice, Dawn didn't seem to get the whole picture. If anything, she was more puzzled about Sunbeam's demeanour than worried about his current predicament.

"Dude, who are you and what have you done to Sunbeam?" she nonchalantly asked. Her lack of empathy alarmed Sunbeam. Could it hurt to just imagine being in his shoes for one freaking time?!

"Dawn! I'm serious!" Sunbeam grumbled. "I can't cause any more trouble today! Especially not after what we did to Pearl! I don't want to make this any worse than it already is." He stopped, catching his breath. Not wanting to disappoint Dawn, Sunbeam wanted to be apathetic to her needs as well, but he had his own right to decide against something that would put an end to his time at Elmore Junior High. Dawn would have to understand what he was going through, whether she liked it or not.

"If I have to be the bane of the school's existence, then let me just prove to Principal Brown that I can be civilized." pleaded Sunbeam. But the insistence to leave her did not sit well with Dawn.

Betrayal at the highest level! How could her true friend, the one person who'd take up any offer for fun, choose to abandon their ways and embrace a more peaceful life?! He was basically breaking one of the tenants of their friendship!

Was this really the end of the Watterson way of life? The family she always admired for their ability to take on the world, now succumbing to the will of the public! It was all the more inconceivable for the young chaos bringer.

"Okay." she growled, freaking Sunbeam out. She sounded like that one weird dude who 'predicted' the apocalypse that he saw in a movie once, like she was giving a prophetical warning that could spell doom for the boy. "Fine. Associate yourself with the common folk. But I warn you! When you go out there and be a normal citizen, life's never going to be the same, I tell you!"

"Dawn, it's only for one week." groaned Sunbeam. Well, at least Dawn took it better than he thought, even if the reaction was a little over-the-top. "Once that is done, **then** we can have some of our usual fun. Deal?"

"Fine." Dawn sighed, rolling her eyes.

"Good. I'm glad we had this talk." chuckled Sunbeam, clasping his hands together. "Now can we please get out of this closet before someone thinks we're doing something newsworthy?" Dawn smirked at Sunbeam, about to throw shade at him for that last statement.

"You mean like doing something…?" she joked, sneaking a playful grin at Sunbeam.

"Yuck! N-no! Nothing like that!" gasped Sunbeam, blushing red. "Urgh! Let's just leave." Ignoring the giggles from Dawn, Sunbeam quickly ejected himself out of the closet, followed by the girl. "I'll see you in class later."

"Cool." Dawn uttered, waving her hand goodbye before she walked the other way, leaving Sunbeam to return to his trip to the classroom.

But as he turned away from Dawn, he failed to turn around in time before someone bumped into him. The collision wasn't too severe, but Sunbeam felt a sharp bump to the head. Shaking his head from the recoil, his eyes laid towards the person who collided with him, only for his heart to race wildly at the sight of the girl.

There she was; Sarah 'Pearl' Salem, just happening to bump right into him at the most inconvenient of times. Sunbeam's mind was racing all around; the trauma he had taken from yesterday's disaster was still eating away at his heart.

At any moment, that beautiful face would be tarnished by the feeling of anger that she must had felt after being washed away by his surprise celebration of her birthday, causing the boy to swell up in his skin with sweat.

He started stuttering, unable to speak properly to her face before she could say anything. His skin crawled in anticipation for the much-deserved blow right to his face.

"Oh! H-hi, Sunbeam."

Sunbeam didn't hear it right. Instead of being livid and hostile towards Sunbeam, the girl simply greeted him the same way she would everyone. When he opened his eyes, he saw her shy face, her smile right there, as if she had forgotten what had happened before. She huddled her books close to her chest while her emerald eyes stared into his.

If Pearl was angry, she seemed to be pretty bad at showing it…

"Pearl!" laughed Sunbeam. "I-uh… didn't see you here!" Seeing that Pearl didn't seem to hostile towards him, he really wanted to speak to her, but the boy couldn't throw away the fear that her attitude was nothing but a façade. Maybe she wasn't all that okay with him and maybe she was hiding some inner thoughts. Things like smashing Sunbeam in the head with a mallet, or drowning the boy in a toilet, or even having to call Linda to roll over him in an endless cycle of dragging torture...

Whatever the case, Sunbeam did not want to be on her bad side. He had failed one too many times already, and if change was being made, he will have to cease his pursuits on her, at least for now.

"Look, I-I got to go!" he cried, nervously stuttering in the process. His body turned around to speed out of there before he messed up again. Whatever friendship he had left, he had to preserve it. "D-don't mind me! I won't bother you anymore! I promise! I'll never have to speak to you again! See ya!" Sunbeam then picked his feet up and ran off, flying away before Pearl could say anything.

"But, wait!" shouted Pearl, but it was too late. Sunbeam was already long gone before she got to say what she wanted to see. "I just want to say…!"

A dust cloud drifted in front of the girl, leaving her barely able to say what she wanted to say before Sunbeam disappeared from her view.

"I forgive you…"

* * *

After barely being able to avoid another potential disaster with Pearl, Sunbeam was already at the door to his classroom. Before he opened the door, he grabbed onto the doorknob, panting from the rush from the corridor, letting the relief flow.

Having to go through another moment with Pearl at such a demanding time was not what he wanted. Too bad fate had to give him a reminder…

Well, the important thing was; he made it to class, and thankfully, nothing too serious had happened.

The boy turned the doorknob and opened it up. Inside, the room was already occupied, chattering and laughter filling in. All over the place, there were all of his classmates, going about their day before the eventual session with Miss Simian in a few minutes.

Sunbeam looked at the usual roster of kids. Of course, Linda Jonah, the residential bully, took up most of the back space, where not only was it spacious enough for a monster truck three times larger than the average student, but the perfect spot to catapult crunched-up balls of paper at her victims. Being a monster truck, she would need some special hands to squeeze up those rolls, not to mention having to actually use the stationery that she was forced to use, so the big girl had to use a special set of long, functional wires as limbs that would extend from inside her dashboard and out the windows.

At the front, lining up the majority of the middle were the Gang of Five; Elmore Junior High's very own basketball team; all of whom were different from one another. The very centre, of course, was taken by the squad leader, Jeffery. The anthropomorphic grizzly bear wore his usual team jersey, stamped with the Elmore Ducks logo at the right side of his chest area. His teammates were tossing their basketball around while the leader relaxed with his feet on his desk.

In front of them, Hackman the walking tablet; the kid who'd play a part in Dawn's ice-cream fiasco. The boy was already at work with a motherboard, playing around with the wires while having the data being displayed at his screen of a face. But the fun was interrupted when a basketball from behind slammed right at his back. His handiwork was tossed from his desk and the kid's face fell flat on the top. Poor Hackman, Sunbeam thought. He was always the main target for the jocks and Linda, being right in the firing line of both.

Then, there was Scoop and Poke, the brother-sister duo. A pair of walking, talking kitchen utensils who needed no introduction. They were the typical, inseparable twins who, as different they were, always played off of each other's strengths and weakness. They were also the school's monitors, always on watch for signs of trouble, especially the cafeteria where the majority of the troubles were. They were usually the foils to Sunbeam and Dawn's schemes, always out to get them. Hopefully, Sunbeam would do well to give them assurance that he wasn't up to anything until the test. They'd be happy to send him to Principal Brown's office the second he pulled something off…

Behind the pair was Gem, a rather bizarre individual but, at the same time, was much at home in Elmore as everyone else. She was like a stop-motion figure; a clay model dressed in a teal polka-dot dress who moved in a frame-by-frame pattern. All of her motions were done this way and it was amazing how things could still be done by her own hands. She paced from side to side, assessing the room and feeling very on edge by the collective noise of all of her classmates. A very timid person, if Sunbeam had to put it lightly…

At the very corner at the right, two more kids sat in a line. Gus and Takeda. While Sunbeam and Dawn were a quintessential pair of best friends, these two were far more popular. Gus was a black-and-white doodle of a dog like something out of a cartoon from the ninety-thirties, with a small moustache and a bowler hat, almost a spitting image of one of those old show entertainers (**A/N ~ The art style for this character is something like that of Cuphead or Bendy and the Ink Machine because I can't really describe this simply enough)**. He was the class clown, always willing to pull off the worst of pranks on his fellow students. After every prank, he would always have a good laughing fit before making his curtain call, running off before anyone could catch him.

Takeda couldn't be any more different. He was literally a walking anime caricature. This cool-looking Siamese cat with his pair of shades, stylized in such catchy colours, was a stand-out among the rest. A real crowd pleaser for the ladies, with both his looks and his cool mannerisms made him the star of the class.

Gus and Takeda were complete opposites in both looks and personality, and yet, they were indeed the best of friends. These were the kids Sunbeam really wanted to be friends with. However, his troublesome luck always kept him back from even uttering a word to these two. So, they were not worth the effort now…

On the right side of the room, three seats were empty. Yet, Sunbeam's eyes were directly on that part of the class, since that was where Pearl and her usual posse of friends sat. If he wasn't in trouble already, he would always stare at Pearl's beauty from his seat at the front, admiring the glamour she presented as she looked at the sky. Still uneasy about the whole mess yesterday, Sunbeam decided to look away, returning to his seat.

Walking into the room, he passed another common troublemaker; Patty Dinkins. She was, to say the least, a clumsy one. It was weird, considering she seemed like the most advanced one of the lot. She was a goldfish, strangely enough, much like Sunbeam's Uncle Darwin. The difference was; she was a proper goldfish with no legs. Yet, she was able to have full sentience, being able to talk to others without problem. The only problem was; she had to remain in a fishbowl. To fully integrate with the real world, she was given a special robotic exo-suit that allowed the fishbowl to be attached and connected to it with special circuitry between the suit and the bowl. Using the power of her mind, she could control the suit's movements, making her capable of interacting with everyone around her. It would have made her the most awesome kid of the school, if she didn't have problems concentrating. If there's one thing Sunbeam learned from his uncle, being a goldfish came with its… intellect problems. Patty wasn't the smartest girl in class, and her lack of focus always rendered her unable to walk or do things properly. She was decent at best, but she always had to bump here and there, being the laughing stock of the class.

Sunbeam then stopped at the desk that was set right at the very centre of the front row. And who had the misfortune of being seated at the very front of the classroom, directly between the wraths of both the teachers and the bullies?

Yep, Sunbeam Watterson.

Fortunately, Dawn would sit to his left, often providing him with much needed back up against any incoming spit balls or thrash coming his way. The catch was; Dawn would throw the stuff back, and that wouldn't sit well for Sunbeam after class. Thank goodness he had his escape routes…

Unfortunately, today, for reasons already known to Sunbeam, Dawn was nowhere to be found, possibly up to no good. Sunbeam shrugged his shoulders. He didn't really need her protection, as he was already being messed with anyways.

As he sat down, already there was a lone piece of paper flung at the back of his head. Rubbing his head, Sunbeam turned around, spotting Jeffery smirking at him. The bear kid then gestured to Sunbeam to open up the paper. In it, it read:

"_Nice job wetting the whole school, genius. The whole team had to skip a day of practice because of you_."

Sunbeam looked back, apologetically, but it did nothing to dispel the animosity he was feeling from all five members of the team. He then looked back at front, awaiting the arrival of his most despised teacher, when a voice rang in his left ear.

"You still wanting to sit this one out?" Sunbeam leapt from his seat. Beside him, Dawn was already at her desk, leaning over to whisper into his ear. Her foxy grin flashed at the frightened boy with her arms crossed.

"Don't do that!" exclaimed Sunbeam, breathing heavily from the shock. "And for your information, yes. I'm still not going to cause any more trouble for the school."

"Alright." Dan sighed, shrugging her shoulders. "But you know what they say; _**old habits die hard**_..."

Sunbeam ignored Dawn's warning, vowing to continue on mayhem-free. His pension for trouble may be difficult to ignore, but it could be done. For at least one week, he had to survive and pass the test; study all the way and avoid all temptations of exciting activities and shenanigans.

Starting his day, the teacher soon came in, ending the parade of noises with one slam of the door. The elderly monkey walked into the room with her crooked body hunched forward in her stride like the Hunchback of Notre Dame. Her left hand hung barely above the floor while her other arm caressed her books and paperwork, begrudgingly sulking about another terrible day at work. She sat at her desk, scratching her back without a care in the world, not even acknowledging the disgust of everyone in the room of her repulsive habit.

Their sickened feelings were quickly turned to fright when those yellow eyes with their dagger-like irises staring right at them, petrifying them into living statues. And if things couldn't get any creepier, it's the way how Miss Simian changed from an eerie, quiet bogeyman to a drill sergeant at the next moment.

"Alright, you maggots!" squawked Miss Simian. "Another day in class, another day in H-E-Double Hockey Sticks." Sunbeam rolled his eyes as he tended to his books to start his day in class, only to be interrupted when Miss Simian gave an announcement. "Before we begin, I have some news for you all." The class paid attention to the teacher, far more than they would in an actual lesson.

"The bad news is; the test will be postponed…" Everyone's faces were about to be lit up. Of course, they would. Who wouldn't give for some extra time to prepare (or, you know, have more fun) before the test? But Sunbeam knew Miss Simian all too well. Judging by how less unhappy she was, he could tell something wasn't right about this announcement. The postponement was only the **bad **news... so what was the 'good' news?

"The good news is; it will be changed… to **today!**"

"WHAT?!" A torrent of screams filled the room, utter shock emitting in the air, as if the end of the world was nigh.

"After yesterday's disaster, the principal wants to finish up the test as soon as possible to fix things up, so I decided to postpone the day of the test to today." informed Miss Simian, though everyone knew it was out of mockery than honesty. But the worst was yet to come for Sunbeam...

Miss Simian then left her desk and walked towards him, staring right into his frightened eyes. With the most wicked of grins, she was about to make sure that Sunbeam would not be let go so easily.

"Well, you wouldn't get it this early…" she said, creeping closer and closer until she was right in front of Sunbeam's face. 'If it weren't for someone…"

Sunbeam heard the collective groans coming from behind. Great. Just when he needed some time alone and away from trouble, his classmates had to be reminded of what he did wrong.

"So, good luck!" cackled the teacher as she exited the room to get the test sheets. "You're going to need it…"

"**HAHAHAHAHA!**" As Miss Simian chortled away, she closed the door, leaving Sunbeam at the mercy of many staring classmates. When the door was shut, the papers began flying, hitting Sunbeam at the back of the head like a shower. Rather than retreat underneath his desk, the boy just took the hit, more annoyed than frightened.

Now that the test was much earlier than expected, his heart was heavy with doubt and fear, making him afraid of what would happen if he failed now. But he continued to hold onto hope… He did study some things before, thanks to the watchful eye of his mother, so maybe some things could work out.

However, what worried him more was what would happen after the test. He might had been safe in class, where Miss Simian's animosity was directed to all children, so no one was allowed to do anything under her watch. However, the real challenge was outside the room.

Could he survive a day of being targeted? Could his escape routes save him long enough before the test results came?

"This day couldn't get any worse…"

* * *

The test was over… finally.

While some would lament the lack of proper studies to meet their demands, most would rather just live through it and hand in their papers so they could enjoy their freedom earlier, assuming the school would allow them that chance.

One such student eager to return to her comfort zone was Dawn… Now that she was done taking part in some lame test, she was free to move on and concoct her master plan.

And where better to start than her favourite venue of trouble?

The cafeteria…

When she went to the vacant cafeteria, she made her way to the kitchen door. Taking a peek over the doors, she could see the space completely empty. No cafeteria lady to tend to the food or watch over the equipment and stations behind the counter.

_Perfect…_

With the coast clear, Dawn burst right in, followed by her less-than-willing accomplice, the genius of her class. Hackman tattered behind the fox girl, his pixel eyes blinking left to right frantically. He wasn't the most disobedient student of the school, so convincing him to follow along was a challenge…

Especially without a certain someone's help…

Now that he was in, Dawn needed to make the most of it while he was still in agreement.

The fox girl snuck behind the counter, as to avoid being in the radar of the school's new camera system, installed as a security measure **just** to stop her and Sunbeam to curb whatever schemes they had there. The surveillance device scanned the room, having its lens watching every nook and cranny, every corner and side of the walls. Dawn had to be careful; one single millisecond upon being spotted and the whole system would send an alarm throughout the school, alerting Principal Brown of what was happening.

And yet, she couldn't help but laugh. The system may be flawless, but the way it was set up wasn't. How could the principal be that foolish to not have a camera in the kitchen, arguably the most important place in the area? Was he that paranoid over the costs of the school that he failed to set up **one** camera in there? Funny enough; he must had been that 'cost-efficient' that he made his own voice the alarm of the system.

No point complaining, she thought. She got into the kitchen and she was free to move around without getting caught. The ice-cream machine she was after was well behind the walls dividing the kitchen and the cafeteria, sat unused for her and Hackman to access.

"Okay, Hackman." she whispered, careful not to alert the system's acute audio receptors. 'Here's the jig. Get your systems ready."

"Are you certain this mission of yours will work?" beeped Hackman, calculating numbers in his head, which were projected on his screen in digits. "I am counting a 6.345631% chance that this scheme will be successful without reprehension from our teachers, a 73.6325% chance that we will be given detention, and an 85.23521% chance that we will be grounded."

"What's our probability for ice cream for all?" added Dawn, causing Hackman to count their odds again.

"93.524%..." told Hackman. Satisfied, Dawn rubbed her hands together.

"Good. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few." she said. "Now, let's get it done."

"I don't know…" muttered Hackman. He stood still, unable to move to do the deed. Dawn figured she would need more convincing to do if she wanted to bring the tablet all in on her plan. Taking a deep breath, she marched up to the smaller boy and held him by the sides and proceeded to throw a motivational speech fit for war.

"Listen." she began. "Think about all the glorious ice-cream you could have and not have to feel gloomy about your dinner the next day!" She poured into her heart and soul all the courage and faith she could give the morally-obliged tablet. It wasn't her favourite course of action to make, but if it got her the results she wanted, then she'd give in just this once. The trick seemed to work as Hackman's sober attitude transformed, slowly approaching a more gleeful one as indicated by a crawl of happy emoji faces scrolling from right to left on the screen.

"Even if you can't eat it, considering you're an electronic device, you could do so much for the children! **The children**, Hackman!

"You could be a hero!"

"A hero!" cheered Hackman, finally fully in on Dawn's mission.

"Great! Now, get hacking!" ordered Dawn, pointing towards the ice-cream machine. Before Hackman could get started, however, she began to snicker, holding in her breath to stifle her laughter. "Get it? Because… **Hack**-man?" Unamused, Hackman crossed his metal cable arms together, displaying a face of disappointment.

"With your humour, there will be a 3.5243% chance that you will ever make a good comedian." snapped the tablet.

"Are those real statistics or are you actually trying to roast me?" asked Dawn, her humour spoiled.

"I don't see why it can't be both." Hackman shot back with a grin.

"Just do your job, flat face." groaned Dawn. Hackman proceeded to get his hands on the machine. From his palms, smaller, thinner wires extended out, tiny plugs inserting into the ice-cream maker. Once he was connected, Hackman scanned the machine, checking for all openings within and inspect its condition before hardwiring into the circuitry. The machine was almost as old as his parents were; antiquated technology that did not have any modern countermeasures to prevent him from accessing applications like most computer systems. All the easier for him to hack into the machine and manipulate it to his will.

Such a power could have granted him absolute control of the technological world around him. What overlord wouldn't give to have an easy shortcut to all the world's devices to bend everyone to their will? Dawn certainly would have had all the power in her hands put to good use, if Hackman didn't have a literal moral code in his system. A list of negative deeds was hardcoded into his mind, meaning that refusing to do things was not out of actual empathy, but programmed (or rather, forced) implementation. In short, Hackman didn't actually feel anything; it's all in his programming. Good thing Dawn knew how to manipulate the programming to her advantage by turning a misdeed into a heroic action.

While Hackman accessed into the ice-cream maker, he criss-crossed through the wiring, getting in touch with the mechanical build-up of the circuitry. Then, something came up inside; an odd feeling that troubled him.

"Uh oh." he beeped.

"What?" asked Dawn.

"The machine seems to be quite outdated." explained Hackman. "Some rusted parts and a cranky motivator. I'm afraid, in this condition, there will be a 43.4251% chance that it will break apart and… do all kinds of terrible things. That will leave our current odds at a 67.252% chance of success."

"Better than nothing." Dawn proceeded to watch the door while Hackman kept his connection secured. She did not want this minor inconvenience to get in the way of success, so, while the odds were good, she stuck to her course and prepared for the celebration. Hackman, on the other hand, wasn't so sure himself. While his moral choices were more programmed than natural, he did have his logical side, and there was an idea that could guarantee their success a little more.

"Perhaps our odds will improve with Sunbeam's help."

Dawn groaned, remembering how she was refused by her best friend. Disappointment was still aching in her mind that Sunbeam would lose out on an opportunity like this.

"We don't need his help. Not when's gone rogue." she uttered with all her fury. "To join the common, law-abiding folk, to go against the ways of fun and excitement. How can he trade that for a boring life of no havoc?"

Despite her frustration, Dawn had a small painful feeling in her heart. In all honesty, she understood why Sunbeam had to back off. Perhaps, she was willing to let him go so he could rest and take it easy. Somewhere deep inside, she felt a little bit of regret for going ahead without him.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Dawn cursed inside, seemingly dismissing her doubts. Why was she growing soft just because Sunbeam decided to take a break for one whole week? It was **his** choice to abandon the mission, not hers! Why bother to feel regretful?!Her desire for the ultimate joy day was more important than anything she had ever pulled off. After this, she was sure that Sunbeam would be the one to regret not joining her on this little adventure and thank her for making this ice-cream surprise a reality.

"Forget it." she vowed, punching her fist into her other palm. "Get the machine up. And don't tell me the odds again. Just do as you're told and you'll get it right." Hackman nodded, starting away with the program to manipulate the machine.

Meanwhile, while watching out for company, Dawn contemplated on her eventual success. Her ultimate plan to both excite her friends and wreak havoc upon those who opposed her, was about to begin. "I'll show Sunbeam. Today, I shall make this a glorious day for the Luna family!"

With a fist held high and her spirit higher, the fox girl would let this day be remembered by all.

"Let us all eat ice-cream!"

* * *

Smashing your face into a locker wouldn't be the best idea of stress relief. But for this occasion, Sunbeam just went with it. He frequently banged his forehead against the hard metal of his locker door, groaning with every hit. His brain was already being wrecked enough from a surprise test and the possibility of being mobbed by the entire student body, so what harm could it possibly do to trash himself against a wall to beat out his frustrations?

At least, they were mild bumps on the locker. There was no way he was going to break his own skull over a stressful day. That was something like… his father would do…

After beating his head on his locker for ten minutes, the boy grew tired. The test was finally over and, needless to say, he was through with it. There was no going back now. He hoped that every hour spent cramming all the knowledge he could by eating pages out of his reference books would serve him well enough to survive another semester.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the only thing he needed to worry about…

"Hey, loser!" The roar from across the hallway sent a powerful shockwave down his spine. His fur shot right up as his strands flashed a green light all at once. He turned to face the end of the corridor to witness the biggest horror known to Elmore Junior High.

Glaring right into his eyes were the angry headlights of the tormentor of the school. The wild noise of her engine revving up roared across the hall with trails of smoke puffing from out of her exhaust pipes. Large wheels dragging across the tiled floor. creating tire smudges on the already mopped surface. Her front grilled bumper bent downwards to make something like a smile; a rather cruel grin that told Sunbeam everything he needed to know.

"Oh no!" he screamed. "It's Linda!"

"Wanna know how to make a cat pancake?!" threatened the monster truck, revving up her engine again. Sunbeam's feet began to move slowly backwards, backing off from the ferocious sight of the worst of Elmore's bullies.

"How about we save that for Home Economics, huh?!" stuttered Sunbeam in a futile attempt to joke about his predicament. It only worked as much as he would expect; absolutely nothing. The monster truck started to rub her back wheel like a bull in a fight with a matador, seeing green instead of red.

Sunbeam was about to run off in another chase throughout the school. But he remembered that he wasn't supposed to be involved in any trouble. Yet, there was nothing he could do to talk anyone out of this. At this point, the whole school was against him, and Principal Brown was not within any safe distance for him to catch Linda in the act.

Looking at Linda, however, forced him to change his mind again. There was no point trying to reason with the bully, nor was there any way to stop her. It was either run or be roadkill.

"VRRROOOOM!" With the mightiest roar she could ever shout out, Linda charged forward at full speed, wheels screeching with. Having no choice, Sunbeam decided to finally run, fluttering his wings as fast as he could before he zoomed off with a raging monster truck behind him.

The chase was on; Linda hot on her wheels while Sunbeam flew like a comet, speeding through the corridors to escape the wrath of the bully. Students across the hallways retreated to the safety of whatever space they could find; be it another room, above their lockers or even a trash can; as long as they could get out of the way before being squished.

Sunbeam kept himself at flight, fluttering the hardest he had ever done, all the while, Linda was raging through, crashing into walls and lockers as she chased the fairy-cat down. The chase between predator and prey continued; echoes of a bygone era. At one time, his own father was prey to another bully, Tina Rex. Within these same corridors, the same chase was repeated again with their successors.

He was a common victim of Linda, and her routine was as predictable as it got.

Sunbeam reached the corner and turned right, heading for the one corridor that he knew all too well. Naturally, he picked his closest escape point. Upon turning, on his left and right above another set of lockers, he spotted a ventilation shaft, opened in advance, just in case anything bad was to happen.

Just before Linda could get her sights on the corridor, Sunbeam sought his chance and zipped right for the shaft, transforming into a tiny mouse before crashing into the tight space. Quickly, the boy reached for the grate and closed himself in, right before Linda swerved into the hallway. From the thin openings of the grate, he could see the monster truck stopping halfway, looking around for him. He kept his voice down, body lowered to keep himself out of sight.

Linda searched for the boy, unable to find Sunbeam amidst the corridor. She knew he was hiding away from her, and unfortunately for her, there were too many places a shapeshifting fairy could hide in. No point smashing through all the lockers to flush him out; she was already in enough trouble for previous attacks on other students. To keep her track record at a minimum, she decided that it was not worth the effort. Sunbeam was a difficult one to catch; pummelling him to the ground would be like catching a shark during a fishing trip.

"You can run, pipsqueak! But this whole school's my turf!" she warned him, knowing that Sunbeam was close. "You won't get away that easily!" After her threat was made clear, she drove off, leaving her victim to breathe. Sweat was dripping down pretty hard around his body and his breaths were heavy from his flying. No wonder his mother told him to use his flight sparingly; using up all that energy really depleted him of his stamina.

"Phew! That was a close one. Boy, if Dawn was here to see that, she…" He stopped himself, remembering that his best friend was elsewhere to conduct her scheme while he had to watch himself for a while.

"Oh, yeah. She must be in the cafeteria right now." he sighed. He vowed to his teachers and his family that he'd stay away from causing mayhem for the week. The test may had been over, but technically, the week wasn't. He still had to behave and be a good student without any incidents to his name, or he'd be expelled; test or no test.

However, deep inside, the temptation for fun and thrill remained, filling him with regret that he had refused another daring scheme with his partner-in-crime. Dawn was to him like what Uncle Darwin was to his dad; they were inseparable. Not one of them would do things without the other. To reject her felt like a blow to their friendship, no matter the promise he made to play it safe for one week.

"Maybe I should go check on her. I won't be involved. Just to see if she's okay. Then, I'll just walk away before anything gets worse. Yeah, that's it!" he talked to himself. If he couldn't take part in the ice-cream plot, then at least, he'd make sure Dawn was handling it well. Maybe wish her luck and then be on his way.

But he was worried about her. If she was to get caught by the school, then she would be the one to be punished, and they would be forced to expel her, alone. Concerned, he exited the ventilation shaft and dropped down onto the floor, returning to his normal form before walking to the cafeteria. His eyes scanned the area, on the lookout for Linda or anyone else who'd love a taste of justice.

He made it to the cafeteria, ready to open the doors for a little peek. Knowing Dawn's expertise, she should be ready to fire the ice-cream by now. He didn't want to interrupt the moment, much less have her pull him into the chaos again. He pushed the door with little force and moved his head over to see the event unfold.

What he would find, instead, was far from what he expected.

"Dawn?!" His eyes widened, his voice raised into a gasp. What he saw was beyond what he'd hoped for… in a bad way.

In the cafeteria, he saw the worst thing he could find in this time of day. It was a room in complete chaos! Food was flying everywhere and it wasn't just the ice-cream. Spinach, fries, burger meat and the meat-loaf of the day; bits of all the food were being flung around, followed by utensils and other miscellaneous items, turning the cafeteria into a warzone. Sunbeam wanted to leave the room to avoid the mess, but he instinctively went to the kitchen to find Dawn and Hackman, who were probably at the centre of the destruction.

Entering the cafeteria, Sunbeam ran right for the kitchen, dodging the incoming balls of food and other stuff as they flew and crashed all around him. Like something out of the Great War, the boy kept his pace, ducking and shifting everywhere.

When he reached the kitchen, things were far worse. The electronic appliances, like the dishwasher, the stove, the microwave and, of course, the ice-cream machine, were dancing like crazy, throwing off all the food and items everywhere out the kitchen. Electricity coursed through the appliances and the wiring, fidgeting and jolting out of control. The ice-cream maker was splashing out blobs of ice-cream, flavours of all kinds thrown out to mess up the cafeteria.

Behind the kitchen counter, there he spotted the two culprits. Dawn ducked behind the table, distressed and frightened by the sudden catastrophe. While Hackman was nowhere to be seen, Sunbeam ran to her, calling out to the girl.

"What the what is happening right now?!" Sunbeam shouted.

"Uh… a little technical problem?" joked Dawn. "Hackman's programming was far more sophisticated than I thought!" When he looked over to Dawn's right side, he saw Hackman, leaning against the counter, seemingly tired out. Sunbeam was about to call him, when a ladle crashed right onto his head.

"OW!" The blow to his head formed a bug bump on the boy's head. After rubbing his head, he called out to Hackman.

"Hackman! Shut this whole place down!" No response. The tablet sat still, unresponsive to his calls. That was when Dawn chuckled sheepishly.

"Uh… about that…" She then moved to show Sunbeam the state of their friend. Alarmed, Sunbeam saw two crosses at the eyes, suggesting that the kid was knocked out by something.

"Hackman!"

"P-P-P-P-P-PROCESSOR… OVER-R-R-R-R-R-R-LOAD…" Hackman beeped, lagging in his voice. He was deactivated and unable to help them, leaving Sunbeam and Dawn without a means to properly shut down the electronics.

"What did you do?!" Sunbeam yelled, barely missing a mixture of spinach and mashed potatoes from hitting his head.

"What?!" argued Dawn. "You think I have all the patience in the world?! I just decided to override him a little." She then showed him the mobile charger that she had with her. In an attempt to speed up the progress of her hijacking, she inserted the cable into Hackman, completely overcharging the poor boy and causing him to short-circuit. The resulting overcharge caused a surge in the current that completely corrupted the programming, turning the machines into weapons of mass destruction.

"Yeah, well, look what that got him!" shouted Sunbeam. Just then, a loud crashing sound was heard. The dishwasher threw a food tray into the security camera at the top, sending it spiralling out of control before being busted. Sunbeam had enough of the violence and sought to end this once and for all. "QUICK! We have to shut them all down!" Not wanting to argue with him, Dawn agreed. The two then tried to get over the top, landing on the stove. But as Sunbeam was about to jump off, he felt a sudden flush of heat on his foot, burning him instantly.

"YEEP!" The burning power of the stove threw him off, forcing him back behind the counter with Dawn and Hackman. Rubbing his foot and blowing on it to remove the agonizing burn, Sunbeam cried a little to seep out the pain.

After refreshing himself with an icepack, the boy breathed heavily. he was in a frenzy of panic and fear; his hopes of a trouble-free week were all lost at once. Suddenly, just when he was finally about to go scot-free for one day, he was rushed back into the world of trouble. And it was all the fault of the one person he trusted…

Angrily, he turned to face Dawn, giving the girl a rare, serious glare.

"You see?!" he growled. "This is exactly what I've been trying to tell you! We shouldn't be messing with the school for at least one more day! One day! That's all I asked for!"

"Well, sorry for being the life of the party here!" argued Dawn, defensively shouting back. "We have to do something!"

"Oh! Like you're the one to talk about safety regulations!" shouted Sunbeam. "Aren't you glad this is happening?!"

"Not when our lives are in jeopardy!" defended Dawn.

"Oh, and our lives **weren't **in jeopardy before?!"

"Well, I was more prepared, alright?! I didn't expect to cause **this**! If I'm going to live to spread chaos another day, at least I should put an end to this!"

"You should have thought about that before you rigged Hackman and made him animate the entire kitchen!" Frustrated beyond any reasonable doubt, Sunbeam flushed out his anger with a sigh. He took one more look at the devastating situation before them. The machines were still flinging and jolting around, with no end in sight. Sunbeam thought how fruitless his efforts were to avoid all of this, seemingly doomed to fail his family again…

Now, with no other option to go for, he had to fix this mess. If he couldn't get away with it, at least he should lessen the damage to soften the aftermath of what was to come.

Forgetting the anger he had towards Dawn, he decided to jump into action, calling on her aid to help contact the school authorities. They raced for the doors, hoping to shout out for help. On their way, they were pelleted by blobs of food, knocked endlessly by the harder objects thrown around by the kitchen. The run to the doors left them completely covered in slimy food and small bruises, but they finally made it to the exit.

But when Sunbeam tried to pull it open, the door was stuck, unable to break open as if it was locked. Assuming it to be a lack of strength from his rushed state, Sunbeam called Dawn to help him pull the door open.

"Dawn, give me a hand!" the boy yelled. Dawn grabbed the door handle with Sunbeam, both giving it their all to pull it open. But no matter how hard they tried, to their dismay, it still refused to budge.

When Dawn inspected the lock with her keen senses, she confirmed the worst!

"It's locked!" alerted Dawn.

"WHAT?! How?!"

* * *

The test results were almost in and, unfortunately for Miss Simian, she wasn't the one in charge of the scoring. She and Nigel were the perfect pair, but he still held things back that restricted her from taking full control over her students. Just once, wouldn't it hurt to inflict pain and suffering to kids she was forced to educate?

She grumbled her way to the teachers' office, where she would begrudgingly hand over her class' work to Mrs. Harriet to mark and score the kids' tests. At first, she thought it was a huge betrayal that Nigel had trusted another teacher to do her work. But after a while, she figured it was nothing more than a mere annoyance. She just hoped they'd fail, regardless of how well they studied, which again, was highly unlikely…

After she passed the papers, she proceeded to head back to the principal's office, where she would spend another hour with her precious.

However, something irked her to turn around. That primate instinct kicked in, hearing a commotion that was coming from the cafeteria nearby. Her impulse to the slightest sound of trouble drove her to investigate, hoping to catch the perpetrators responsible for the disturbance.

When she looked into the cafeteria doors' windows, she saw what was probably a combination… A mixture of terrible chaos and golden opportunity. There, she saw the Watterson-Luna pair, hiding in the cafeteria while a major storm of food and kitchen utensils flew all around them.

Shocked by the sudden mayhem, Miss Simian was about to bust right in to catch the troublesome duo in the act, sending them to the principal's office to inform him of their misdeeds. However, just as her hand reached for the handle, she stopped. A different feeling oozed inside, changing her demeanour.

Her hatred for the Wattersons had suddenly taken its course. From this seemingly chaotic turn of events, came a chance she could not afford to lose. Here the Watterson kid was, trapped in another bubble of trouble. If she could finally have the satisfaction of expelling the child from the school, then this was her perfect chance!

Grimly keeping herself away from the door, she then took out a bundle of the school's keys. Picking the one for the cafeteria, she then inserted it into the lock, twisting it and trapping the children inside. Without a care in the world, she released the key from the door and walked away, chuckling evilly. Who cared if the kids were being pelted and smudged with the cafeteria's condiments? They got what they deserved and they would have to be punished in the worst way possible.

"Hehehehe! If they can't leave this room, they will be exposed." she declared, her wicked joy evolving into a series of cackles. "Nigel won't have to worry about them anymore! HAHAHA!"

As Miss Simian left to laugh her joy away, someone else was watching the events unfold. From behind the door of an adjacent classroom, a lone student kept her eyes on Miss Simian, all while she feared for the three kids inside. The cat girl didn't want to be implicated in the incident, but her worries for a particular boy had prompted her to stay and watch, contemplating on what she would do.

When Miss Simian confirmed her intentions, the girl gasped, knowing the worst was about to happen to the victims inside.

"Oh no!"

Without hesitation, she had to make her way to find help. But who would she call upon to help? Who could be there to help Sunbeam, Dawn and Hackman out of this messy situation?

* * *

Her foot tapped impatiently, her arms crossed. Her nerves were almost about to burst in absolute frustration. For almost ten minutes since they were stuck in traffic, Penny had her patience tested by the endless complaints of a road-raging Gumball at the driver's seat.

Their trip to the mall was interrupted by a long line of vehicles that were heading for the same destination. In an unfortunate twist in their peaceful day, the mall was launching a promotion that almost everyone in Elmore couldn't ignore. A huge cut in the prices of, of all things, toilet paper! Like what was the point of this? There was no major crisis or plague hitting the town at this point. The world wasn't about to end. Why were people so obsessed with cheap toilet paper anyway?

While Penny was puzzled by the affair, to Gumball, the sales meant the worst thing he could face on the road. A huge traffic jam…

"Ugh…" groaned the husband, almost tempted to sound the horn. "Come on! It's not Black Friday! It's not even **any** Friday!"

Penny rolled her eyes, also wanting to have her voice heard. But as the calmer and more mature of the pair, she didn't want to cause a scene… which was exactly what Gumball was about to do. Climbing out of his seat and taking his body out the window, he threw a fit, swinging his fist wildly and yelling at the people at front.

"Hey! Why can't you extroverts get some peace and quiet back home, huh?!" Shocked and embarrassed by his childish behaviour, Penny retorted, pulling her husband back into the vehicle. She gave him another one of her angered glares while she ranted back at him.

"Gumball! Calm down and be patient!" she demanded. Gumball, however, didn't give in completely. He was quiet, but he wasn't totally out of his bad mood quite yet. "I don't get why you get so bad-tempered sometimes." Penny groaned.

"Can you blame me?!" argued Gumball, earning another impatient stare from his wife. "What? It's all in the DNA. You know how my Mom acts when she's in traffic."

"Okay. Then let's take our time and turn on the radio. Just listen in on some serenading tunes." suggested Penny, tired of hearing the same old excuses. Of course, however, Gumball didn't seem too enthusiastic, testing her again with another snarky comment.

"Honestly? How do you think that'll keep me in check?" Rubbing her temples, she then turned to her husband. Instead of another glare, she seemed to beam with happiness, somewhat optimistic again…

"Well, look on the bright side! If the music won't keep you quiet…" But it was a farce. Suddenly, she grabbed Gumball by the collar, startling the cat man. Once she had him in her grasp, she transformed into her wolf form, her hand turning into a paw which then extended claws that tore holes into the collar. Her angry growling was now wilder, demanding more power in her deadly stare.

"**I** will…" she growled with a much deeper voice. Of all the forms Penny could turn into when she was in a bad mood, this was her worst yet; calmer than her more monstrous forms, but still, it was far more threatening. Even her dragon form wasn't as traumatizing. Something about that beast in the night that gave Gumball the creeps more frightening than the more direct shows of force of her other demon forms.

It was more than enough to snap Gumball out of his own temper tantrum, submitting him into a state of fear as he sweated profusely. Thankfully, the threat was short-lived when he saw that the line was finally moving.

"Oh! Look at that! We're moving!" he laughed, still scared to the bone. "Let's… just get on with it!" Releasing Gumball, Penny reverted back to her normal self, grumbling to herself about how immature her husband could be at times.

The driver put his foot to the accelerator, slowly following the slow, but moving traffic jam, regretting about making such a fuss. He may be Nicole's son, but Penny was his wife, and wives are always the deadlier of the couples.

A sigh escaped his mouth. Today was not a day to be temperamental. Ever since his talk with his son the night before, Gumball wanted this day to be different. Sunbeam was to become a more model student and survive the semester to last another term in Elmore Junior High. If he could make it through, then he'd be the happiest father in the world. Hope had kept him this far, so he couldn't afford to waste it on a traffic jam.

"Let's hope nothing stops us this time." he whispered, not wanting to aggravate his wife again. The two remained silent as Gumball was forced to be patient. It was either this or being mauled to death by his wolf of a wife.

Then, Penny's purse began to vibrate, followed by the melodious tone of her smartphone. She took it out to answer the call. On the screen, it showed an unknown number. Wondering who it could be, she pressed the dial button, accepting the call. She brought the phone to her ear and answered, all while Gumball continued driving without a thought.

"Hello?" said Penny, while the caller began to talk. "Yes, this is Sunbeam's mother speaking."

Then, Gumball's nerves began to stir when Penny mentioned their son's name. He was hoping he would hear from the boy when he returned home from school, perhaps coming back with a positive note on his trouble-free challenge. To have a call about him this early spooked him. Good thing the traffic had stopped again; he'd be driving madly when he heard Sunbeam's name.

Gumball silently prayed, desperately hoping that Sunbeam wasn't in any trouble; intentional or otherwise. This was his last chance to prove to the school that he was capable of behaving and avoiding trouble, that he could become a well-respected student if he tried.

_Please… tell me he didn't do anything wrong again…_

Alas, when he saw Penny's face become startled, he already had his answer…

"GUMBALL! Stop the car!" yelled Penny, forcing Gumball to skid to the side of the road. Defeated, he had to assume the worst…

_Yep… he definitely did…_

"Uh huh…" Penny continued to talk to the unknown caller, hearing on what she had to say. After a while, she ended the call. "Okay! We're coming right away!" Putting off her phone, she sharply turned to her husband, with a face of alarm and restlessness.

"What happened?!" asked Gumball, also worried about his son.

"Eyes on the road, honey!" demanded Penny. "We're going back to school!" Knowing that his son was involved, Gumball hit the accelerator again and turned the other way, back to the school. Forget the new cooking pot, there was a son to tend to!

With the opposing lane of the road clear, the father went full throttle, speeding the car right for the school. The speeding vehicle zoomed through the streets, blowing away any walking folk at the sidewalks with the force of the speed. Penny grabbed onto her seat for dear life. She was about to tell Gumball to slow down, but she too was worried about Sunbeam that she didn't bother to stop him.

"What did he do now?!" yelled Gumball, while avoiding another pedestrian crossing the road. "I thought he promised us he'd do nothing bad!"

"Less talk! Full throttle!" ordered Penny, her motherly instincts activated. As he kept driving, Gumball set his sights on the road like a racer in a circuit, fully set on his destination. But almost five minutes in, there was another obstacle in the way. Hitting the brakes, the car came to a complete stop, almost yanking the couple off their seats.

Another traffic jam; this time, caused by a roadblock. Apparently, someone had the bright idea to cut down a tree to see if it could make a sound of pain when it fell. This caused the road to close down, while the Doughnut Sheriff was inspecting the flow of traffic at the centre of the cross-junction.

"Of all times!" groaned Gumball. "It's supposed to be a school day!"

"Get out of the car!" Seeing there was no other way, Penny exited the car, not caring about having their car stuck in the middle of the road. Ignoring the angered shouts of the drivers behind her, she immediately shut them all down by transforming into her mighty dragon form. The golden, burning reptile flapped her wings with enough force to blow their faces away. One look at her raging stare was enough to dispel all road rage, keeping them all silent.

Gumball also got out of the car, getting the idea of what Penny wanted to do.

"Hop on!" she told Gumball. Her husband climbed on board, tightly holding onto her neck while jittering inside. It wasn't his first ride on Penny in her dragon form, but the trips he had were not always smooth. As he expected, the dragon took off with voracious force, causing Gumball to scream like a little girl. Hanging on desperately, it took him a minute to adjust and feel more at ease. High in the sky, he tried not to look down, especially when Penny was flying wildly in the air.

All the while, however, there was still compassion that made him pray for the best. At this point, it wasn't about Sunbeam's reputation at stake. It wasn't even about his fate upon whatever incident had occurred.

All he cared about was Sunbeam's safety…

"Please, kid. Don't get hurt…"

* * *

Trapped in a room of war, Sunbeam and Dawn were left no choice but to defuse the situation themselves. Leaving the doors behind, they went back to the kitchen, met by the barrages of unending ice-cream blasts.

The machine fired globs of cream at them, freezing projectiles threatened to smother them up. The kids were splattered with ice-cream all over their bodies as they struggled to brave the storm. They became colder and colder with each hit, slowing them down.

"How much freaking ice-cream is in that small machine?!" shouted Sunbeam. The ice-cream maker was your average-sized kitchen appliance; it wasn't a full-blown giant like the machines at the Rainbow Factory. It shouldn't be spewing out this much ice-cream. But he was forced to eat his words, and a bit of ice-cream. By sheer coincidence, blobs of ice-cream started to fly towards him.

"Vanilla!" screamed Dawn, before the creamy, white ice-cream splattered on Sunbeam's face. Slightly dazed, he wiped his face, but another projectile headed his way.

"Chocolate!" Another hit, mixing the vanilla with sweet, brown goodness that couldn't be enjoyed. Sunbeam was unable to wipe his face on time before more ice-cream flew his way, piling on his face up.

"Green tea!"

**SPLAT!**

"Watermelon!"

**SPLAT!**

"Gravy?"

**SPLAT!**

"Tomato?"

**SPLAT!**

Flavour after flavour, Sunbeam then got hit by one more scoop of ice-cream. Oddly and tragically, in an instant, it began to **burn** him! Screaming in agony, he quickly wiped it off, but the ice-cream (?) had burned enough of his face until it was as red as the ice-cream that hit him.

"Chilli?! What kind of moron came up with these flavours?!" After they moved some more, Sunbeam and Dawn hid behind the counter again, re-joining the still unconscious Hackman while they caught their breaths. Unfortunately, the trouble had only just begun.

They heard ticking sounds coming from the counter above. They turned around to see forks, spoons, knives and other kitchen utensils standing upright, bending down as if they were setting their sights on the two. Panicking, Sunbeam pulled Dawn and Hackman out of the counter and out of the kitchen, just in time before the utensils started to fly towards them. The sharp points and edges of the forks and knives aimed right for them, backed by the blunt forces of the spoons and others. Sunbeam and Dawn reacted by knocking down the table to shield them from the approach. The sharp utensils stabbed onto the marble surface of the table as if it was flesh.

Poking out of cover, Sunbeam delivered another rant.

"This doesn't make sense! Why are forks and spoons moving around?! They're not electronics!"

"This is fanfiction of a wacky cartoon, Sunbeam!" argued Dawn. "You think **anything** these writers come up with makes sense?!" After their narrow escape, Sunbeam set his sights on the wall where the circuit breaker was located on; the only way to end this mess. While the food fight was still happening, he had to make one quick run to cut off the power.

"We have to shut this place down, now!" called Sunbeam. But just as he was about to make the jump, he heard Dawn, shouting out to him in utter panic.

"Sunbeam! I'm being sucked in!" The boy turned around to see Dawn being pulled into a vacuum cleaner. Her body flew towards the monstrous nozzle of the cleaner as she held on for dear life. The machine kept inhaling in with enough force that her grip was slowly loosening. She extended her claws out to desperately cling on, but they were of no use, the table being scratched by her being pulled in.

Sunbeam frantically ran back to save his friend, dodging more of the food bits thrown from the kitchen in a series of somersaults and fly-by's. In one quick dash, he leapt onto the table and grabbed Dawn's hands before she let go.

"Oh no, you're not!" Sunbeam vowed.

A tug-of-war ensued as Sunbeam and the vacuum cleaner fought to take hold of the girl. However, the boy was losing his edge when his feet started to slip, sliding towards the vacuum cleaner. Seeing the situation turning sour, Dawn then looked around the table, grabbing hold of one of the forks before throwing it into the vacuum cleaner. The sharp object struck into the hose, clogging the cleaner as it _choked_ on it, coughing uncontrollably like an elderly man on a bad day.

Dawn was freed from the vacuum cleaner's control, dropping down to join Sunbeam as they ran to the circuit breaker. However, stopping them was an army of appliances, standing in front of them to prevent them from shutting them down. As if the cartoony craziness of it all wasn't enough, they were backed by the stove as it too pulled itself out of the kitchen and roared with its flames fired up. Then, there was the fridge which also breathed out a freezing cloud of mist from the door.

Realizing the odds were against them, Sunbeam wanted to run, find a way to escape and let the problem die out when the authorities came. But he then looked at Dawn, who was also contemplating a way out from this catastrophe. When she looked at him, the two suddenly felt a spark; a burst of energy that they should have had from the start. It was their strength of dealing with trouble that was snapped back into their hearts and minds.

Suddenly, their fears were forgotten. A new adventure was out there and, as always, they would be the first to tackle it, together…!

"You ready?" Sunbeam asked, cracking a victorious grin. Dawn smirked back, ready to cause some mayhem.

"Always." The two faced the enemy ahead, now fuelled with a fire that set them forth. They charged fearlessly into the army of electronics, taking them head on.

The first to counter their charge was the dishwasher, spitting out plates at Sunbeam like Frisbees. Sunbeam leapt up, transforming into a beetle with sharp, sword-like front arms, slashing away at the plates before he landed on top of the dishwasher. Then, he sliced through the dishwasher like it was paper, severing the machine into several pieces that fell onto the ground.

Next, Sunbeam faced the refrigerator and morphed into a red bear, claws out with a vicious roar. The giant box tried to freeze the bear cold with its 'breath', but the animal's natural resistance to the cold gave Sunbeam the chance to catch up and gave it a powerful body slam, throwing his weight onto it and proceeding to slam it with his claws, scratching and denting the helpless storage unit.

Dawn, meanwhile, grabbed a pair of forks, wielding them like dual katanas. Using her natural knack for parkour, she jumped from table to table, avoiding the incoming toast slices from the toaster. The toaster was then assisted by three frying pans as they flung a fried piece of egg each towards the girl, threatening to sear her down. Dawn threw herself back to catch the pieces of toast and the eggs with her forks, skilfully putting them down on plates for a fresh serving of a breakfast fit for a king. At the end of her stunt, she twirled her forks before jumping towards the toaster, stabbing wildly at the appliance until it was completely crushed and broken. She then flew her hands out and caught the three frying pans before she spun around and threw them towards Sunbeam.

The bear was busy shaking a blender in his jaws when he saw the pans come right for him. Transforming again, he jumped up and shrunk into a three-tailed monkey, catching the pans in each of the appendages. He then directed them towards the microwave, decimating the device before it had a chance to throw a bowl of boiling hot soup at him.

With the appliances down, there was only one threat left to deal with. The giant stove, somehow detached from the kitchen, roared again, flames bursting out of its burners. It all seemed like a battle with a mighty dragon, with two tiny knights against a beast that towered over them like a ferocious monster.

And yet, despite their fright at the sheer power of the stove, they were determined to take it down. In one last show of force, Sunbeam prepared to transform into something far deadlier than any of the forms he had just used earlier.

"A mouse?" Dawn looked down to see Sunbeam morph into the tiny rodent form, wondering what the heck he was doing.

"Tiny but deadly…" chortled Sunbeam, unfazed by the size disadvantage. The two then looked towards the stove, watching it breathe fire again. With its power, it threw all the pots and pans it could take towards them. The children prepared themselves for the final boss battle, forks and gnawing teeth at the ready.

Countless years of video gaming and outdoor escapades would be put to the test!

* * *

Penny had been flying in the air for five minutes, Gumball desperately trying to hang on for dear life as the dragon speared towards the school below them. His screams were muffled by the blowing force of the air current against Penny's ears as she made her descent.

Aiming for the parking lot, she shot her back legs out front to prep her landing. The sudden shift in her body caused Gumball to nearly lose his grip, still screaming like a little girl. When the ground drew closer, Penny braced herself for a rough landing. Finally, her feet dragged across the rock-hard road, digging into the ground while her feet burned from the force of the landing. Gumball wrapped his arms around her neck, almost too hard for her liking. Her wings flapped violently as she made her crash-landing. Slowing down, her claws then caught onto the rough surface, causing her to flip over the ground and land on her back.

When she recovered, Penny reverted back to her normal form, blowing and fanning her feet from the intensely hot landing. Once she was done, she dusted herself of the asphalt caught onto her body.

"Okay! We made it!" shouted Penny, still fatigued by burns and bruises. When she looked around, however, there was no sign of her husband anywhere. "Gumball?" She finally looked below her, startling the wife when she saw what had happened to Gumball. The man was flat on the ground, dug into a hole caused by the impact of her final fall. Crushed and unable to move, he raised a finger, mumbling to Penny.

"I'll… be there…"

Penny turned to the school, remembering that her son was in need of help. At the front door, she caught sight of one of the school's teachers, standing at the entrance.

Filing her nails, seemingly unaware of the chaos happening inside, Miss Simian leaned against the door, probably waiting for Principal Brown before she would leave the school. Penny ran towards the monkey teacher, followed by a crushed Gumball who was cracking himself back into shape.

"Miss Simian!" she called to Miss Simian. The old coot turned her head to the mother's calls, looking ignorant as always. "Did you see what happened to our son?!"

"No…" the teacher nonchalantly dodged to answer the question. At that point, Gumball was already next to Penny after blowing his deflated head back to normal. Even a doofus could tell that Miss Simian was lying, but what baffled the couple was how she was being dismissive on purpose.

"Seriously? You couldn't even pretend to care?" groaned Gumball.

"I don't know why you two are here, but I've got important things to do." told Miss Simian. The lack of empathy was already starting to get on the parents' nerves. However, among the two of them, no one was madder than the mother herself.

Penny's brows furrowed dangerously low, steam coming of her nose as if she was a bull. Her dangerous glare was directed at the blissfully dismissive teacher. Her motherly instincts kicked in again. The safety of her son was in jeopardy and when someone was being ignorant about it, on purpose especially, her fire would be lit to extreme heats.

She never really **hated** Miss Simian when she was a student of the school, as she'd just be some annoying presence that Penny could just go through without major repercussions. However, when the ancient crook dared to put her child in danger, she was finally convinced by Gumball's countless mockery of her.

Storming towards Miss Simian, Penny stared her down, met with only equal annoyance from the older woman.

"What?!" spat Miss Simian, angrily.

"Listen, here, Miss Simian!" shouted Penny. "My baby's in there, and if you don't move right now…"

Then, Miss Simian bore witness to Penny's ferocity, watching the mother grow in size, towering and eclipsing over her. Her body buffed up, her skin changing from her golden gelatine texture to a rough shell of pure muscle. Soon, the monkey teacher was looking up at a barbaric monster; Penny's most violent form yet.

Penny's dark red eyes then shot right at Miss Simian's creasy ones. Then, she grabbed onto the teacher with her giant fist, completely wrapping her thick fingers around the crooked, thin body.

"I'LL TEAR YOU TO SHREDS!" With the mightiest of roars, Penny yelled at Miss Simian. The elderly woman's body swayed violently by the powerful shout that she almost bent the other way. Shaken with absolute fear, the teacher melted into the giant's fist, splattering onto the stone floor, completely whitened.

Gumball watched the whole scene with a combination of admiration and fear.

At times, when Penny got mad, she would really let people have it. Far from the shy little peanut girl Gumball first met as a kid, the amount of anger and authority she had as a devoted parent was almost on par with Gumball's own mother. Even if Penny could turn into other creatures with extraordinary powers, there wasn't anything different than what Nicole could do _without_ such powers. Oddly enough, their anger spats were also similar for other reasons Gumball couldn't tell…

Nonetheless, when he saw Miss Simian drop to the floor, it gave him joy that such punishment was dealt.

Penny then returned to her fairy form, breathing heavily from her transformation. Gumball came up to her, rubbing the back of his head with sweat coming down.

"I hope never piss you off like that ever again, dear." said a shaken Gumball.

"Come on!" Penny grabbed Gumball's hand and pulled him along, running into the school to save their son and Dawn.

* * *

Facing the reanimated stove, Sunbeam and Dawn were armed and ready, standing in the face of absolute, red-hot danger. The flames burnt brightly like dragon fire against a knight in shining armour. The kids stared down the mighty enemy before them, about to use conventional means to beat it.

"I'll get his attention!" squeaked Sunbeam. "You deal some damage!" Dawn nodded. Armed with a fire extinguisher, she'd focus her attention on the flaming burners and keep them from fuming out its fires. To make sure she got to her targets, Sunbeam had to shrink himself into a meek little mouse, where his speed and small size could help him run around the cafeteria while the stove focused on him.

At once, the team split up, running from both sides from each other. Sunbeam scurried towards the stove, sticking his tongue out to coax it into attacking him. The stove bought the trick, firing balls of fire towards the little mouse. A torrent of flames raged through the floor, barely missing the boy when he jumped out of the way, just in the nick of time. The little rodent ran across the floor, getting himself away from more fire attacks with speed and agility. Flaming waves swept through the floor, forcing Sunbeam to hop onto table after table.

When the stove was distracted enough, Dawn grabbed her extinguisher and made her move to the burners. Jumping up in the air, she aimed the nozzle and pulled the trigger. A cloud of foam was jettisoned out of the funnel and onto the stove, blocking the burners and neutralizing the flames.

Unfortunately, extinguishing the flames wasn't enough. The burners were switched back on, somehow evaporating the foam off the stove. Angered, the giant then set its sights on Dawn, who dropped the extinguisher in a panic. It then unleashed its fiery rage onto her, thrusting a ball of fire towards her. Unable to move on time, Dawn stood petrified, too frightened to move away from the giant fireball.

Her whole body froze, only her mind was functioning, but it was like it was happening in slow-motion. As the fireball got closer and brighter, Dawn's thoughts laid towards her family and the failure to uphold their legacy. Despite being in danger multiple times, she had never come this close to a fiery death; at least, she hadn't felt like it. Now, it all seemed like it was going to be the end. Mere seconds felt like hours, giving her time to look back and feel regretful that she hadn't done enough to make her a certified professional of the Luna family.

But before she could be consumed by the enormous flame, she suddenly saw something rush in front of her. A large turtle threw himself in between the attack and the girl, using its shell to block the blast from hitting her, saving her from a horrible end. The turtle fell to the ground with its shell smoked with a black coat of soot all over it. Sunbeam stood back up to face the stove, transforming back into his normal form. He then put up a brave face, mocking the stove for the failed attempt on Dawn's life.

However, a second later, his triumph was quickly swiped away when the burns finally came to his back.

"OW! OW! OW!" Sunbeam jumped in the air, grabbing his back and screaming repeatedly from the burns. When he was finally cooled enough, he and Dawn took another look at the stove and saw that it was still fired up, literally, for more.

"We'll need more firepower." told Dawn. "Or in this case; **anti**-firepower." Sunbeam looked around the cafeteria, looking for anything that could be of use. The fire extinguisher wasn't going to be enough and all the drinks they could use were mostly spilt all over the place. The refrigerator was beyond repair, so nothing in it was of any use, destroyed and melted away.

There was only one idea that Sunbeam had that could work. At the counter, the ice-cream maker hadn't moved to join its mechanical brethren on the battlefield. By this point, it had made some much ice-cream that a huge mound of the cream formed over the counter, almost enough to inflict a sugar rush on twenty kids. It was probably more than enough to pacify a steaming stove.

"I know just the thing." said Sunbeam. Dawn noticed his glance towards the ice-cream, frightened by what he was up to.

"You'll get a brain-freeze far worse than inhaling liquid nitrogen!"

"It's worth the risk!"

Thus, making one more transformation, Sunbeam turned into a large, blue elephant. Stomping towards the ice-cream hill, he then swung his trunk into the cream, sucking it up as hard as he could. Despite the breaking of biological laws that this writer couldn't bother to rationalize with, the elephant managed to suck up the entire mound, bloating his trunk to the max. Loaded with extra cold ice-cream was strong enough to give the large pachyderm an ice-cream headache that could literally freeze the boy. He had to be quick to end the threat once and for all.

He readied his trunk, pointing it like a hunting rifle and aimed at the stove. The mighty machine still breathed fire, not fazed by the ice-cold power that was about to cover it whole. Encumbered by the time he held his breath and the spreading frost that crept inside his body, Sunbeam fired away, blowing off all the ice-cream from his trunk and bombarding the stove as it sat doomed and unable to stop the overwhelming force from covering itself up. The giant was buried in fifty tubs worth of ice-cream, trapping it and extinguishing the flames in an instant. The mound soon did its job in defeating the stove, dropping it down to a useless state.

With the mighty foe gone, Sunbeam transformed back to normal, watching the aftermath of the fight they had. After the fires were washed away and the reanimated enemies of the kitchen defeated, the two kids stood over a ruined room. Tables were tossed over and chairs flipped and bent. Food was dripping from the ceiling and the walls, stuck to the floor and staining the tiles in a sticky or slippery mess. But worst of all, the wreckages and 'corpses' of machines, mangled, mauled or shredded to bits by the combined might of brains and brawn. Though food fights were nothing new, the cafeteria had never been in this state of destruction for a long time.

Sunbeam stared at the scene around him, while Dawn roared with cheers of victory, standing over the smothered stove with a fork held up high.

His habitual excitement filled him with thrill and triumph. Another exciting adventure and a badass fight that left him glorified with victory. He did feel like cheering, cherishing the win he and Dawn had fought so hard for.

Yet, at the same time, there was guilt in his heart. The promises made to his family and teachers were instantly broken. He had gotten himself in trouble again… Betrayal was felt hard in his heart, hurting him inside. He felt like he was doomed by putting himself in the forbidden frenzy put upon him by the forces of the school's faculty. Now, only time would tell just what the repercussions would be, but Sunbeam knew he was going to pay the price for his knack for mischief, no matter how noble his intentions were…

So, what was he to do? What was he to say? He did, after all, save two of his friends from certain doom. Wouldn't that excuse him from the punishments promised to him? He felt like it wasn't a given; no one really trusted him to control his habits and, thus, no one believed he was capable of doing the right thing.

All except a few people…

After her cheering had ended, Dawn came over to slap Sunbeam at the back, laughing with glee.

"Dude! That was awesome!" she yelled. "We totally nailed them, huh?!" Sunbeam couldn't cheer back. He was too conflicted to even smile, at first. But remembering what he did, he did manage to grin just a bit. He may have destroyed the cafeteria, but he did so defending his friends in the process. If that was enough to convince him that he had done some good, then it was all he could ask for.

"Yeah…" he sighed, still smiling. At least some people found the good in his actions, even if one of them was, by all means, a real troublemaker herself.

"EEK!" Suddenly, Sunbeam felt a chilling pain strike his brain, straining him until he was petrified. His skin froze with icicles forming at the ends of his fur. Dawn chuckled at the frozen state of her friend, reaching for a fork and spoon to chisel the boy out of his icy coat.

"Told you you'd get a massive brain-freeze." With her fork whacked into the ice with her spoon, it shattered into pieces. Sunbeam shook and shivered, slowly regaining his warmth with the help of his fairy aura.

Then, there was a hissing sound. From up the ceiling, the two kids looked up to find a knife, stabbed right into a water pipe. A crack formed right in the middle, allowing water to spritz right out. The degraded state of the pipe didn't help to keep it all in for long, slowly breaking apart.

A sense of deja vu hit them, reminding them of the day before that something similar happened. What would follow wouldn't sit well with everyone…

"Uh oh…" uttered Sunbeam.

"Round Two?" asked Dawn.

"I guess…"

And then, in an instant, the pipes gave way… The whole school was about to be washed up again… All Sunbeam remembered afterwards was a wave of water, rushing into him before everything went dark…

* * *

_Sunbeam…_

_Sunbeam…_

_Sunbeam…!_

_SUNBEAM!_

**COUGH! COUGH!**

The darkness ended. Sunbeam was awakened by both the disruption of throat from water choking him up, and the soothing voice of a man desperately trying to wake him up. His vision was blurry at first, but when he opened his eyes for a while more, he could finally see again.

Before him, he saw the sky above him. In front of it, a silhouette loomed over him. A closer look gave the boy a clearer picture of who the man was. Suddenly, he was overcome with absolute relief and happiness to see his father.

Gumball had been by his son's side when the torrent nearly swept him and Penny as they entered the school. His wife was able to save themselves before the wave broke free, out the door and taking the children with it. When they tended to them, they did their best to resuscitate them. Thankfully, both children were safe.

Now, father and son were reunited. Gumball, overcome with extreme relief to seeing his son alive/ After coughing up some more, Sunbeam rubbed his eyes, drenched all over his body. Then, he felt the tight grip of his father's hands on his arms, shaking him back and forth. The boy's head began to swirl in dizziness as Gumball stopped to shout at him.

"Sunbeam! You okay?!" he desperately asked.

"You mean, if I'm not being shaken around like a ragdoll and suffering from a major headache?" coughed Sunbeam, woozy from the shaking.

"So good you're safe!" Gumball then brought his son in a crushing bear-hug, almost suffocating the kid until his eyes popped out and back in.

"My spleen…" squealed Sunbeam. After Gumball let him go, he then saw his mother behind Gumball, equally overcome with solace that her son was well and alive. She then gave him another tight embrace, almost causing the boy's nerves to burst. When she let go, she smiled, wanting to tell him how worried she was when she got the call from someone at school. At first, Sunbeam thought he was actually going to be spared from the retaliation of his mother.

But, as usual, things didn't always go his way.

"You have some explaining to do, young man! What were you thinking?!" yelled Penny, happiness replaced by anger. Gumball, in turn, also frowned.

Sunbeam fell silent. His battle with the kitchen had made him break his promise to his parents, and understandably, they had the right to be angry at him. The father-son talk he had before felt like it was wasted. Nothing had changed, and as a result, he was about to lose everything…

All, because he couldn't keep himself trouble-free for one week…

"Please, Mrs. Watterson!" Dawn came to his aid, her clothes and fur also dripping with water. "It wasn't Sunbeam's fault! He was only trying to help." But still, the parents were not assured. By this point, there was no excuse. Yes, he did save Dawn and Hackman, wherever he was, but it wouldn't be enough to compensate for how much damage he had done. There would be huge amounts to pay for, and they were already struggling to make meets end. Gumball would have to be fired, Penny would not be able to sustain a proper flow of parenthood and the kids would be left without proper education.

All in all, he had doomed the family.

But before he could suffer the consequences, Sunbeam had to step up and admit his wrongdoings. If he was going to enter a period of dark times, then at least he should end his good old days with a heroic stand, to ensure that his friends were not forgotten. Standing before his parents, defeated, he apologized to them, knowing that it wouldn't be enough.

"Mom… Dad… I'm sorry… I was…"

"AH HAH! There!" The boy stopped when a wailing scream was heard. From out of the school doors, Miss Simian and Principal Brown raced out. Their angry, stern faces beamed right towards the group. They marched down and met the troubled family, staring right into the eyes of the boy who started all of this. "I knew I caught you!" screamed Miss Simian, triumph evident in her voice.

"Sunbeam Watterson!" scolded Principal Brown. "I thought I warned you; never cause any mayhem for this one week!"

"I'm sorry, Principal Brown! I was just…!" Sunbeam tried to defend his actions, but the principal was not having it.

"You have broken the rules of this establishment!" interrupted Nigel. "I will not allow this to go on. I'm afraid I have no choice but to expel you."

Sunbeam and Dawn gasped. The girl finally understood the gravity of her best friend's situation, filling her with regret. Yeah, she still had happiness for being part of a massive fight, but it still ached to not get the whole picture, especially since she was about to lose Sunbeam.

Sunbeam's parents, however, stood their ground, much to his surprise. They might had ended up losing their place in Elmore, but they were still standing up for him. But it only filled him with more guilt when he had to watch his parents fight a futile argument.

"Please, Principal Brown. Is there anything we can do?" begged Penny.

"How about you pay for all the damages your son caused?" said Nigel. "And if you think combining the money with the Luna's is going to help you, you are so wrong."

"But Sunbeam didn't mean to do this!" argued Gumball.

"And you can't be bothered to see the error of his ways?" spat Nigel again. "I understand you love your son, Gumball, but there are times when, as a father, you must realize that he has done terrible things!"

Sunbeam sat idly by, watching the adults come to blows over what had happened. Again, he was forced to feel the pain and guilt for messing things up. Grief and trauma returned to torment him, leaving him unable to speak or do anything. Tears began to flow down his face, unable to take the pressure anymore.

He felt like running away, thinking that he was only going to bring more pain by being in everyone's presence. No matter how hard he tried, trouble was only going to find him and those around him would be consumed into it. Even the one person who could brave the danger, his best friend who revelled in the chaos, would have been in mortal danger because of him. There was nowhere the kid could be while he had people around him.

But then, Miss Simian began to chortle, cackling at the entire debacle. The old monkey was always there to see the Wattersons tremble in defeat and she would enjoy every last second of it.

Watching the teacher gloat in this tragedy, something stirred inside him. Suddenly, the fears he had over ruining people's lives, the trauma of being the cause of so much damage and hurt, they were all gone.

He remembered the fight he had with the kitchen tools and how much he had to lose if he had allowed the cafeteria to be destroyed. Dawn and Hackman would have been hurt… or worse… Thinking back to his intervention, he couldn't just let his negative emotions get the better of him. He knew what he was getting into when he opened the doors and attempted to fix things. And while he didn't prevent the damage, he did look towards the people that mattered more. In the end, Sunbeam took up arms and helped Dawn and Hackman escape the worst possible scenarios.

So, finally, Sunbeam realized that he had more of a reason to be involved. He may have had his doubts, but as long as he did something to help those in need, it was more than enough for him. Who cared about a downfall for his family at this point?! He saved lives! All the great heroes of his father's stories made great sacrifices for the better of their people, and so, putting his reputation aside to save Dawn and Hackman made him feel like a hero.

And here, he was not going to let some grumpy old coots bring him down. He was not coming back anyway, so why bother resisting…? He was about to let them have it. Transforming his foot into an elephant's one, he slammed the ground so hard that everyone shook from the impact. The argument ceased and the adults turned their way to Sunbeam, noticing the anger in his face.

"See here, Principal Brown." growled Sunbeam, walking his way towards the aging man. "I may have caused some major damage to school property." His teeth gritted, overcome with anger from the stress he was forced to endure. "But I'm starting to wonder if **you** should be the one at fault here!" He pointed his finger, blasting Nigel Brown with his own turn at accusations.

"What?!" Everyone yelped, flabbergasted by Sunbeam's sudden change in mood.

"I beg your pardon!" affirmed Principal Brown.

"How dare you?!" added Miss Simian.

Sunbeam's parents, meanwhile, were stunned. All their time raising the boy, they had never seen such anger from him. He was always willing to bend to the will of authority whenever it came. Now, here he defied it, letting all of his fears go to finally have his word. It may had sounded rude to them, but at the same time, they couldn't help but feel…

Proud…?

"That ice-cream machine was already breaking up!" Sunbeam screamed. "My dad has seen that thing ever since he first got into this school, and you can't replace that?!"

"I did?" Gumball retorted, but was given an elbow to his thigh by his wife. "I-I mean; yeah I did!"

"By allowing that machine to just sit there, rusting away, you may have caused a health hazard! I mean; why bother keeping something that old?! You could have just bought a new ice-cream maker. But **no**!We would have never been harmed should the school have replaced it sooner!"

The crowd was speechless. Sunbeam's defence had rocked their minds like a surprise hit at the movie box office. An unexpected turn of events that suddenly shifted their minds to a whole set of emotions.

"But… this is…!" Nigel Brown was about to put Sunbeam in his place. However, there was a new player to this debate; one who had been by Sunbeam's side since forever.

"No." said Gumball. "He's right. Was it any surprise that you wouldn't be of any help?"

"Excuse me, but who are you to speak about responsibility?!" argued Nigel, pointing his finger at his former student.

"At least I'm acting on it now!" shouted the father, reliving the frustrations he had in this school before. While he was not as guilty as his son was, Gumball understood the complications of a school unable to catch up with disciplinary action. "Sunbeam's right! This whole thing would have never happened if you had been more careful with what's going on! I mean; what have you done to make sure **I** wasn't being tortured by **my** bullies?! Or how about that time when you put me in detention with some of the worst students this school had ever had?!"

"B-but…" Now, Principal Brown was slowly losing his edge. He was sweating from the sudden rise in opposition to his rule. "It's school protocol!" Gumball was about to yell again, but, this time, it was Penny's turn to interject.

"Protocol?! You call putting your kids in danger protocol?!" yelling the most she had ever had, while turning into the Gorgon monster with her venomous snake hairdo and deadly glare for a moment before reverting back. Her attention then shifted to Miss Simian, who had been quite casual over the matter, not even once lifting the finger at them.

"And what about you, Miss Simian?" scolded Penny. "Standing around, filing your nails, while the kids were being buried in ice-cream?! You couldn't even care less, could you?!"

"Now, don't you dare…?!" Miss Simian tried to shout back, but no one seemed to get the message; never interrupt a mother whose kids were in mortal danger!

"When Gumball and I came to school, you were just dilly-dallying with outside the school, doing nothing! Like you don't even want to help the children!"

"Wait…" Dawn then joined in, putting the pieces of a puzzle together. "Was that why the door was locked?!"

"WHAT?!" Everyone else shouted. Even the principal was shocked, and now, he was livid! His undying love for Miss Simian may keep him restricted from standing up fully for his students, but when the line was crossed, even she was not above the law.

"You **locked** them in there?! Is this true, Simian?!" he pressed his shock towards her. With her beloved against him, Miss Simian was finally struck with nervousness.

"No! I-I can't be blamed!" she stuttered, now looking more frightened. With the weight of the argument solely against her, Miss Simian then erupted in a fit of rage, now shooting her finger at the children.

"Your kids are the guilty ones! They were the ones who decided to go, anyway! So, it's their fault for being there in the first place!" She crossed her arms, grinning at the fact that the children were indeed responsible for implementing a scheme behind the school's back. "Like I told you, these kids have been nothing but **trouble!**"

"Trouble?" But then, Dawn came by and pointed her thumb at the window between outside and the cafeteria. "How about taking another look at the cafeteria?" Everyone came over to see what she was talking about. Then, after taking a look inside, they were stunned again.

Instead of a cafeteria completely decimated by the havoc that ensued only a few minutes ago, the place was somehow back to normal! The tables and chairs were put right back up and the floor was squeaky clean. The spots and stains of food were also gone, with not a single speck left untouched. Of course, the machinery destroyed by the kids was still left littered there, but a heap of the trash was kept nicely in one corner, ripe for a janitor to come and clean with a little more convenience.

"What the-?" They couldn't believe it. How could such a random disaster turn into a miracle worker? Principal Brown was actually impressed by the cleanliness of the cafeteria, amazed that all of this happened because of two troublesome kids.

Gumball was not going to let this go unpunished, however. After all, as his son boldly stated, it **was** more of the teachers' fault in this case.

"As for the damage done to the equipment, that will have to be your problem and your problem alone." he gloated. "Unless you want to back your arguments up with the authorities…" The older adults simply groaned at him. To think; that the one person in Elmore who would win an argument was the one guy who terrorized them.

But Gumball didn't expand upon his joy. Despite the damage, Sunbeam did the right thing; to save his friends and defuse the situation before it got worse. And for that, he was proud of him.

"More importantly, he saved his friends from a total disaster. And he did it the ol' fashioned way." With his hands firmly on his hips and his leg over what looked like a cliff from out nowhere, with waves splashing all around him and a ray of light behind him, Gumball declared that the day was saved thanks to…

"The Watterson way!"

"Where did that come from?" asked Sunbeam.

"Cartoon goodness, Sunbeam." said Gumball, still revelling in the glory.

At last, the principal had to give up. After the massive weight of arguments, there was already so much he could take. He supposed that the situation was over thanks to Sunbeam and Dawn's antics. As disgruntled as he was towards the reparations and payments needed, he had to concede. The Wattersons would always be tied to trouble, as if it was embedded in their DNA. No matter how many times he tried to defuse them, there was no stopping them. For once, he had to consider the possibility that, maybe, it was for the best to just let them be…

"Alright." he sighed. "I suppose Sunbeam has caused more good than harm, for once."

"WHAT?!" screamed Miss Simian, shocked that her own love had taken their side.

"My love. There is no need for this kind of behaviour." he argued. "After all, you did intentionally put them in harm's way. And for what? **This**?!" He waved his hand towards the leftover water coming out of the doors, indicating the damage done. If Miss Simian didn't have to be such a crook, then maybe the damage could have been lessened.

Then, Penny came over and stared right into Miss Simian's rotten eyes. The two women glared dangerously towards each other, but the fairy was the one to speak.

"I'm starting to see why Gumball hated you. In fact, I always knew; but now, I'm starting to feel just the same…" Penny taunted. "And if you ever hurt my baby again…" She then turned into her wolf form and growled viciously at Miss Simian, haunting her again. "You will suffer…"

"HMPH!" After the brief scare, the teacher turned around and headed back into the school. Principal Brown just shook his head. Apparently, the drama had given him a migraine, and that was only just the beginning.

"Now, please, just head home and return to your normal lives. If I can call it 'normal'…" he grumbled, following Miss Simian back inside. However, as he got up the steps, he turned around to look at Sunbeam. For the first time in a long while, the boy could see a genuine smile on the man's face.

"And about your test, my boy…" Nigel said. "We'll be looking forward to seeing you improve the next time." After that, he turned around, closing the doors and leaving the Wattersons the big clue to Sunbeam's fate. The boy jumped up with joy, having a good feeling about what the principal hinted at.

"YES! That means I passed, right?!" he shouted with elation. "I just gotta have!"

"I think that's a yes, coming from Principal Brown." stated Penny, shrugging her shoulders.

Finally, after such a tumultuous day at school, Sunbeam had managed to survive, after all. Thank goodness, he thought. After putting the entire school in jeopardy, he would have to watch as his family paid up everything. Now, he could rest easily, knowing that he did his part to protect them. If anything, it made feel like a badass.

And why wait for more? There were other good things to come his way…

"Hey, Sunbeam!" Sunbeam turned to the road. There, he spotted the two popular kids in his class, Gus and Takeda. They stood there, the black-and-white character waving enthusiastically at Sunbeam.

Naturally, Sunbeam walked over to them, wondering what got them so excited.

"That was the bomb!" cheered Gus, slapping his arm around the cat boy. "A spectacular performance! I can imagine the masses gathering like it was the Great Depression! Only more joyful and definitely fatal!"

"Oh! Uh… thanks." stuttered Sunbeam.

"And how about that killer wave you and Dawn made? Very cool." praised Takeda, dropping his shades a bit downwards to show his eyes a little.

Sunbeam couldn't believe it. He was being complimented by two of the most popular kids in school! Not that doing damage to school property was rewarding or anything, but who cared?! He was somehow being praised by these cool guys!

"So, how about it, kid? Care to meet up some other time?" offered Gus. Sunbeam was having the time of his life, now being asked to join them in their gatherings! And if Takeda had credited Dawn in the conversation, then that must had meant she was to be invited as well. Excited beyond belief, Sunbeam couldn't say no.

"Sure!"

"Cool. See you around." Takeda snapped his fingers, giving Sunbeam a point of his fingers to bid him farewell.

"Tally-ho!" wished Gus as the two walked away from the school. Sunbeam remained stunned, almost about to drool, thinking about all the fun stuff they would get to do.

And the heat just kept on coming.

"Hey, Sunbeam." Right behind him, Sunbeam was graced by the presence of Pearl, who was also there to spectate the drama.

"Pearl!" Sunbeam jumped, still unable to speak properly. His heart fluttered both with affection and guilt. He hadn't gotten over the fact that he nearly drowned his crush yesterday. So, why was she here, smiling at him, no less? "Wh-what are you doing here?"

"She was the one who called us, sweetie." answered Penny.

"You did?" asked Sunbeam.

"Mmhmm." Pearl, nodded in approval.

Yes, she was the one who called his parents when she witnessed Miss Simian locking the door. Instead of focusing her energy on the teacher, however, she went straight for the payphone and called them.

"Oh… Uh, thanks…" Sunbeam rubbed the back of his head, extremely flattered that his crush attempted to save him. But that still didn't answer the question; why did she do it, even after Sunbeam nearly got her killed.

"My pleasure!" cheered Pearl.

"I… uh…" Sunbeam struggled to say something, but he needed to say what he needed to say. Finally, he decided not to let his stupid feelings stop him from being sincere. "I'm sorry about what happened yesterday! We were planning to give you the best birthday surprise ever, and…!"

"It's okay, Sunbeam! Chill!" affirmed Dawn, holding her hands out to stop Sunbeam from exasperating. "I'm sure you didn't mean to nearly drown me and the girls back then." Then, a sneaky smile crept up on her face. "In fact, that was the most fun I've had in a long while!"

"Really?!" exclaimed Sunbeam. His heart soared when he heard that Pearl actually **enjoyed** the flood yesterday! Yeah, it still engulfed others, and Sunbeam did feel somewhat confused as to why Pearl would be happy about being washed away. Regardless, it didn't matter, at least because everyone made it out alright.

"Mmhmm! I mean; I hate the thought about drowning in the middle of school, but it was worth it." told Pearl.

"You think so?!" Sunbeam could hear this all day and he would still be struck with love. "Well, Dawn and I can cook up some more fun! Just- uh- feel free to ring me up, huh?"

"I… think we've had enough trouble for one day." giggled Pearl.

"Oh! Right! Hehehe…" laughed Sunbeam sheepishly.

All the while, Gumball and Penny watched the exchange between the two kids. Apart from the former's apparent jealousy of his son being invited to join a group of cool kids, something that he failed to do back in his day, he couldn't help but feel overwhelmingly happy that Sunbeam did something good for the girl he loved. It was a start, but surely, with enough effort and hopefully, more consideration, he would earn her heart.

"Just like his father." mused Penny, also relishing in her son's joy while poking fun at Gumball's own romantic endeavours in the past.

"But it worked, didn't it?" teased Gumball, elbowing Penny in the arm.

"Shut up." giggled Penny, blushing.

After a brief but loving chat, Sunbeam had to call it a day. He wished the moment lasted longer, but looking at the Sun setting down, there was not much time left for talk.

"I'll see you around, then." offered Sunbeam.

"Yeah! Definitely!" cheered Pearl. "How about tomorrow?"

"Oh yeah!" The two shared a heartfelt laugh.

"Well, goodbye!" Pearl wished before she spun around and ran the other way. Sunbeam simply drooled with amazement. Sure, it wasn't a solid beginning to a beautiful friendship, but it was a start nonetheless.

The bliss was short-lived when Dawn came over, giving Sunbeam a noogie to the head and snapping him out of his trance. The boy was taken aback by the sudden assault to his head, pushing Dawn off after a rough shake-up of his hair.

"See? Just get yourself in trouble with me, and you get want you want." told Dawn.

"Yes, Dawn. You really are a miracle worker." laughed Sunbeam.

"Couldn't have done it without 'ya, buddy." The two gave each other a fist bump. For all of Dawn's stubbornness and obsession with havoc, Sunbeam was glad she wasn't exactly malicious. Thankful that she was truly his best friend, he couldn't have her any other way…

As for his family, Sunbeam was greeted by a collective hug from Gumball and Penny; their disappointments and anger all gone. Warmth and affection took over. Gumball was especially proud that his son had taken his advice and not let the trouble get to him. Sunbeam braced the storm and although he nearly got expelled for it, he was glad the boy stood up to himself and was rewarded with all the good things a kid could have in friends.

"We're very proud of you, sweetie." said Penny. The three continued to hug, seemingly dazed by the power of family bonding.

Sunbeam was especially thrilled. Finally, a day went by, and he managed to achieve the goals he made in school. He got the chance to be with the cool guys and, more importantly, he had a shot on being with Pearl.

But, of course, he was able to make something of himself. He stood for what was right and saved not only his own skin, but his parents' as well.

For once, everything was right…

"Does this mean I'm off the hook?" asked Sunbeam.

"No, you're still grounded for a month." said Penny.

"Eh, worth it…"

**THE END**


	3. The Drone

**Finally, got this done! And now, I have to start getting things done for my other stories before they linger on in development hell.**

**As for this story, overall, I've already have more episodes ready, so stay tuned! Two seasons worth actually! Things have been easier with a bit of planning ahead; something that I'm not really good at XD So, hopefully, I'll get the new chapters out soon.**

**Reviews**

**Going on and on and on:**

**Yep, here's another chapter for you :)**

**Thanks to toofergang, New Generation 1145 and Tigerdovefan34 for the faves and follows :)**

* * *

**The Drone**

"AAAAHHHHH!"

And the morning began…

Another wailing scream coming from up the family bathroom. Good thing everyone else had their turns in the shower before Gumball did. It was that time of the week and the man had to shave. Using a razor, however, wasn't going to cut it…

The screams echoed all the way down the dining room, and yet, all in attendance somewhat not frightened by the sudden noise, except for the guest in the house. Dawn was a frequent visitor to the Watterson household, but she had never heard such a yell at this time of day. It sounded Mr. Watterson was being murdered or something and still, the family just went by like it was nothing. For all she knew, for the family at home, it was pretty much a normal thing.

"What the heck was that?" the fox girl asked.

"Oh, that's my Dad shredding his facial hair off." told Sunbeam, passively eating a sandwich made by his mother in the kitchen.

"Does he not know how to use a razor?" asked Dawn again, puzzled as to why Gumball had such a painful time shaving.

"Not a razor. Chewing gum." answered Sunbeam, baffling Dawn. She loved a little violence in the morning, but this was a little too much for her to swallow. Just thinking about tearing your fur off with chewing gum made her skin crawl. "Apparently, smearing the gum over your lip and then ripping out all the facial hair makes the hair grow slower than using a razor."

"Your father's going to have sore lips again." Penny mused, seating herself at the table with a bowl of oatmeal. It was funny, really. Back when they were children, Gumball always fantasied about how growing facial hair would make him feel more macho and manly. Apparently, reality gave him a different experience by the time adulthood caught up to him. Now, having a moustache and a beard didn't feel so cool as it used to.

Opposite the pair of friends, Raven was already finishing her own cereal before her mother would take her to school. Sunbeam and Dawn settled on taking the bus, insisting to take the burden off of the mother.

"Eh, he'll probably end up with worse today." said Raven, dismissively letting her amusement of her father's misfortunes known. Not that she hated her father; that was absolutely not the case. She loved her father, but it was just funny to see him wail in pain. Usually, children who would laugh at their dads screaming in agony were at their infancy, only giggling at the silliest things that they would get themselves into. Apparently, Raven hadn't got out of that, still enjoying the little mishaps her Dad faced. No one knew why she was that way; not even Raven herself could tell. In the end, no one dared to ask, knowing **whom** she got this habitual sense of entertainment...

Finishing the sandwich, Sunbeam got up, excusing himself from the table before reaching for his bag at the stairs.

"Well, I'm done with my breakfast. Time for us to head for school!" he cheered, Dawn joining him. Penny watched the two leave for the front yard when she spotted the boy lifting his bag. When Sunbeam grabbed hold of the bag strap, the boy was pulled back for a brief second, the weight of the bag seemingly acting against his will for a moment. That was when she knew something wasn't right.

"Sunbeam." Penny called suspiciously before her son left the door. Sunbeam froze, adding more credence to her suspicions. Call it a mother's instinct, if you will… "What's in the bag?"

"What do you mean?" said Sunbeam, scratching the back of his head. His voice sounded insistent, but that was what gave his shadiness away. "I've packed all the stuff I need."

Not convinced, Penny got off her chair and walked towards her son. Sunbeam backed off, hoping that her mother would be able to lift the bag up with no problem. Unfortunately, not even her iron grip could lift it up flawlessly. Penny, too, felt the sudden increase in weight in Sunbeam's bag.

"Did you pack a stack of bricks for school?" asked Penny, alarmed by the sheer weight. "What is in there?!" Then, she began to unzip the bag and dig right in. Sunbeam got even more restless, sweating all around. When Penny finished investigating, she couldn't believe what was in there. Her head turned to her son, going into full motherly lockdown mode.

"Son. You are **not** taking your gaming console to school." she demanded, crossing her arms. With nothing else to hide, Sunbeam tried to convince his mother that bringing his game console to school was not for leisure. One month had passed since he was nearly expelled by the school for flooding the place **twice**. Now was not the time to risk another breach in the rules. Tomorrow was a very important day and Sunbeam was going to use his own video game console for something better than just lazing around with it.

"Relax!" assured Sunbeam. "This ain't about playing games. It's for the science fair tomorrow. Dawn and I have been planning for something really cool. Aren't we, Dawn?"

"Yeah. It'll be a blast." Dawn added, but Penny didn't like how the girl commented with that word, knowing all too well of her mischievous intentions.

"And your project is…?" continued Penny, inquisitively.

"Ah! That will be our little secret." stopped Sunbeam.

"So, you can keep a secret related to your academic records to your friends, but you can't share it with your own mother?" asked Penny, getting warier by the moment.

"Hey! Don't overstretch your authority here. Even we kids have to have secrets." snapped Sunbeam, earning another unsure glare from his mother. "But, don't worry. Once we get our project done and ace that fair, you can see it for yourself!"

"Hmmmm…" Penny scanned the boy for any gestures that would tell her of any lies. Sunbeam wasn't as disobedient as Gumball was; in fact, he was a little more considerate about the things he'd get himself into and would opt for a more careful way out. But the apple doesn't fall far from the tree; as long as he and Dawn were doing something together, there was no guarantee he would be coming home without a complaint or report on his actions.

But still, his intentions were, more often than not, good in nature. Yes, there was a science fair and Sunbeam did promise that he'd do well for this one. The only thing was; he was never one to delve into the art of science. It was just not his subject. Nevertheless, for this once, Penny would allow the boy to carry on. Finally, she sighed, allowing the kids to take their console with them.

"Fine, but you're going to need a bigger bag for your console."

"No prob. Dawn's got a bag for that." On cue, Dawn pulled out a large sack from out of the door. When she brought it in, however, out came a chicken, clucking wildly as it escaped the clutches of the evil girl that kidnapped it. Sunbeam gave Dawn a firm glare, while she looked away and whistled. "And don't bother telling me where you got it from."

After a quick inspection, the kids were finally given the go-ahead and moved out, waving Sunbeam's mother goodbye as they walked out to the sidewalk and awaited the bus.

"Make sure you bring it back in one piece!" urged Penny from the door. "For both you **and** your father's sake."

Then, behind her, Gumball was all dressed up and ready for work. To Penny's shock, she saw how swollen his mouth was after his rather 'simple' clean-up. He almost looked like a swarm of bees had stung him! Yet, Gumball remained as normal, unfathomed by the numbness he was feeling.

"Hey…" he spoke, muffled by the thickness of his lips. "What did I miss?" But suddenly, they both heard a scream coming from the kitchen, along with some clucking sounds.

"AAAH! Get off me, you feathered freak!"

* * *

The bus pulled over at the front of the school. The doors slid open and the passengers all poured out of the vehicle; everyone heading for the entrance to start their day in school.

Among them, Sunbeam and Dawn carried their bags into the building. Unfortunately, the boy had to be the one to carry the larger sack with his game console inside, in case he needed to transform and defend the tempting treat. Sunbeam was lucky to have one of the latest gaming consoles, and he could not risk losing it to anyone unworthy of his prize. They carefully walked their way into the hallway and headed for the classroom, where they planned to meet up with their science partners from the previous week.

Dawn acted as his escort, watching around for the sneakiest of snitches, the worst of the baddies. She'd give a warning if Linda Jonah was around, allowing them to find their escape paths to avoid her wrath.

Eventually, the two kids reached the classroom, creeping inside while on the lookout for any wandering students. After closing the door, they were safely inside, well-protected from all prying eyes. The room was already occupied by two other students inside. One of them being Hackman, the sentient tablet kid. After a rather unpleasant experience being a puppet of Dawn's shadowy scheme in the cafeteria, the boy was cautious to trust her again, only agreeing to partner up with them for the sake of his excellence and achievement in his programming. Meanwhile, the fourth participant eagerly waited for them, a little too much for everyone's tastes. What more could you expect from a girl who was constantly uneased by the slightest inconvenience? Gem, the stop-motion clay girl, had been clamouring for the essential parts needed for their science project, ranting and pacing around impatiently for their partners.

"There you two are!" she exclaimed. "Do you know how much time we've wasted because of you two?!"

"Oh chill, Gem." groaned Dawn. "We got all the time we need."

"Do you have the necessary parts for the project?" asked Hackman.

"We sure do, ladies and gentlemen." cheered Sunbeam. He dropped the sack down carefully onto a table, puffing in relief that he could finally let go of such a heavy load; so much so that he literally deflated like an open balloon. "You're welcome."

Meanwhile, Hackman extracted the goods out of the bag, laying his eyes upon the great masterpiece of gaming glory before him. He took a moment to admire the sheer joy just by looking at this trending piece of work, taking the console into his hands to enjoy its presence before most of his fellow students.

"A Z-Cube Five." Hackman scanned the gaming console, assessing the specifics of its components and formulating the compatibility with their project. "Perfect!"

Cracking his knuckles, Sunbeam was ready to get things done. This project was going to be the pinnacle of scientific excellence! (Or whatever that mumbo jumbo was that Hackman just declared about a week ago…) He spat at both of his palms and rubbed them together.

"Dawn. Let's work our magic." told Sunbeam.

"Make this quick. The fair is tomorrow! We don't have much time!" complained Gem.

"Remind me why we didn't do this sooner." added Hackman, fidgeting with his calculations. "Proper planning could have saved us valuable time! If we would have finished three days ago, we would have a probability of 78.237% that it would be fully operational. We haven't had time to check for bugs, glitches, performance issues, safety hazards and…!"

"Will you two relax?" groaned Dawn. "We still have one more day for that. We can make it work." She shook her head, contemplating on why Miss Simian had to pair them with these worrywarts. Gem was always a little timid when things didn't go her way. Hackman, on the other hand, was always fixed on achieving the best, most positive outcomes of his calculations, that any misstep in his plans would strike his odds down. Honestly, at the rate they're so acute to every minor detail, these two would probably survive the apocalypse. readying a rock-solid bomb shelter before anyone else.

"Now, how about you two help us out so we can get it done anyway?" complained Sunbeam.

"Fine." Gem and Hackman groaned in unison. Finally, the group resumed their week-long project, getting ready to break open Sunbeam's console and utilize the necessary components to be placed into their new contraption.

Unfortunately, just when they were about to take apart the console, Sunbeam hesitated. His eyes were glued to the still intact device that he wholeheartedly cherished since he first had his hands on it. The countless hours put into playing the latest releases, beating his way to the top (or, at least he tried to) of the online leaderboards. The engagement of the characters he created on _El-Moor Scrolls V: Kyjim_. All of that could be for nothing if he destroyed his prized treasure.

"I... I can't do it!" cried Sunbeam, on the verge of breaking down in tears, like a mother about to lose her child. "I spent years rising to video game prominence with this! My baby!" Annoyed by his wussy excuse, Dawn grabbed the boy by the collar, shooting her eyes onto his with the most serious of glares. Then, a hard slap struck Sunbeam at the cheek, snapping him out of his sadness.

"Suck it up, Watterson!" commanded Dawn. "Are you a man or are you a kitten?!"

"Well, I am half cat and I's still a kid, so..." whimpered Sunbeam, but he got slapped again.

"Do you want to succeed from the suffering of our enemies?!" added Dawn, pumping up the heat and shaking the boy.

"I dunno... That costed my parents a fortune to get me..." Sunbeam sobbed, but again, Dawn made her superiority clear and slapped him a third time. The green on Sunbeam's cheeks began to be coated bluish-purple from the hits to his face.

"You win this fair, and they'll be so proud of you, they'll be getting you that new Play-Nation Six you always wanted!" boasted Dawn.

"Wasn't it _you _who wanted...?" Sunbeam tried again, and again, he got his face slapped.

"That doesn't matter! You wanna come out a genius?!" screamed Dawn. Tired of arguing, Sunbeam nodded frantically. "Then, you will go through with this! Your Z-Cube's been through rough stuff to be just a play thing of our lazy Saturdays! It's time for it to serve a higher purpose!" She waved her hand around, eager to set her message home. "The protection of all student kind from the evil doers of the society of oppressors that plague our schools today!"

After a good look at the project blueprints laid out on the table for them, Sunbeam pondered about what was more important. It was either his own personal pride and glory, or the safety of his fellow kin in class. He looked back at the days that he, too, was a victim. A very hard victim to catch, but a victim nonetheless. The amount of time he spent escaping the clutches of his bullies had left him ignorant of the suffering of those who **do** end up getting caught, forced to be beaten down, chewed upon, stripped apart and even having their bodies sabotaged by knuckleheads. Eventually, he remembered the goals of his science project, the very mission that drove him. The chance to be heroic without physically getting himself mashed up in the fight.

He remembered why they were here as a team. Sunbeam and Dawn were always hot on their heels the moment Linda, the worst of the bullies, would strike. No matter how successful their escapes were, she would always find them the next day. That would all end soon… And what about Hackman and Gem? The victims

He would build this magnificent machine and revolutionize a new age of anti-bullying protocol. Together with this ragtag group of hopeless geniuses, he would bring them all to prominence! So what would a bunch of virtual worlds do to stop him from achieving the real deal?!

And heck, it's the age of the Internet; online saves are a thing…

"I'll do it." he sighed with a heavy heart. Other than his own love for the console, he was sure his dad would feel the loss, if not worse than what Sunbeam felt. But, at last, Dawn had his support and the work could finally begin.

"Then, let's get the tools!" She grabbed the tools needed for the job, with Sunbeam finally revitalized with enthusiasm and hope for a better school. But as they went to work, Hackman couldn't help but sympathize with the boy.

"Poor Sunbeam. I've been there..." he sighed, remembering the last time he was coaxed into serving a moral cause by that weasel of a fox a while ago. This time, however, the cause he was working for is a definite must. If Dawn tried to sugar-coat anything, he'd be wise to resist her.

"Are you sure you they know what they're doing?" asked Gem, fiddling with her fingerless palms.

"Well, Dawn is great at building things, but her expertise is meant for mischief and trouble." explained Hackman. "On the other hand, Sunbeam has no aptitude for coming up with anything technical, but he does balance out with his enthusiasm and the tendency to have some random miracle arrive at the worst time possible."

"So, mesh their traits together and they come up with our genius creation?"

"Yes. But the problem is; will they manage to build it that can get us an A+ or an early trip to our graves?" Hackman calculated the odds as if it were a real equation. Suffice to say; he did not find them good. "The chances for the latter are… quite decent…"

"But what about the A+?" pondered Gem, trying to find the positive side of the equation.

"You really want to know?" Hackman shook his body (since he doesn't have a head to actually shake and turn with…), his voice letting Gem know that he wasn't that optimistic about it. Gem shrugged her shoulders, letting him tell her anyway. "Minimal."

"That's just great." scoffed Gem. "First, Miss Simian assigns us to the most chaos-driven kids of all time, and because of that, our grades are at stake. What could go wrong this time?"

"She's done, guys." Finally, after minutes of sweat, tears and a bit of Red Pool Soda, the two innovators in the making had completed their creation. Gem and Hackman jumped to the table where their project sat ready for show and tell. There, they marvelled at the sheer ingenuity that they had invented.

The drone shined like a brilliant star, brandished with a coat of purple metal across its shell. Two robotic arms with functional pincer claws; the ones provided by Hackman from his pile of spare parts, laid out like a scorpion's. At the centre of the front, the drone had one eye, using a camera lens, borrowed from Gem's old photography set, to house in its optical sensors. On its rear end, two jet boosters that were once stolen from a nearby laboratory in a school field trip were placed to provide jet propulsion for the machine once it was ready.

Above all else, one of Hackman's state-of-the-art AI computer chips was slotted into the drone, giving it full access to a databank of endless information to be used to serve its ultimate purpose.

"She is a beauty!" commented Gem, her temper cooled by the results of their ingenuity. Those days of pestering and impatience could finally put to rest, knowing that they had constructed a full form of the drone.

"I call it; the King of Indestructible Youth and Oblivion to Meddlesome Intimidators!" declared Sunbeam, prouder than everyone else. But his teammates were not as enthusiastic after he had revealed its name. They all agreed that an acronym was needed for convenience's sake, and unfortunately, what it ended up being wasn't what everyone had in mind.

"You called it 'KIYOMI'?" squeaked Gem in disbelief. "That is **not** threatening! That's something you'd give to a little kitten!"

"From a certain point of view, she is not wrong. The term _kiyomi_ is sort of used as a Korean slang to refer to someone ascute." explained Hackman. "Not to mention it was a meme that didn't last long in the last decade."

"Ah! And that will work to our advantage!" defended Sunbeam, still convinced that his decision to use that acronym was a good idea. "Bullies wouldn't think of it as threatening at first, and with such a name, they'd be a hundred percent fooled! Just think; they will be laughing their socks off when they hear its name. And then, when the time comes, they won't be laughing then when our drone pulls out all the stops and ATTACK!" Despite being joyful with his ambitious project, the others didn't share his optimism.

"Seriously, that will **not** be our drone's name." groaned Hackman.

"Come on! We'll think about naming conventions later." urged Sunbeam. "Let's test it out! We're pushed for time as it is!" Though the drone was impressive on the outside, the question remained; would the inside work? Could they make it fully operational just in time for the fair tomorrow? That was about to be put to the test.

At the school field, they would proceed to take their project out for another test drive on their way to perfection.

* * *

The camera's ready… The recording was live… The next test on their new project was about to begin. Gem was in charge of recording, taping the event for their records. At the stage of grass, Dawn and Hackman were front and centre to fill in the details of their drone. The former held a clipboard in her hands to read the script provided for this moment. She coughed up, clearing her throat for the report.

"Okay! "Test flight, Number 23." began Dawn. "We are gathered here today to begin our next _belated_test on our science project; the…" Her throat began to itch, her body shivered.

"The…" Her face cringed in a mix of disgust and awkward silence as she struggled to get the name out. Her eyes then glared dangerously towards Sunbeam, who was sitting at the stands, monitoring the test from the side-lines.

"Sunbeam, we are **not** naming this thing the KIYOMI…" growled Dawn. Gem didn't move the camera, focusing on the fox's disgruntled face while Sunbeam shouted off-screen.

"Just go with it! You'll thank me later!" shouted Sunbeam. Shaking her head, Dawn resumed the report.

"This time, with the added modifications, our drone, the…" Finally, she lost her patience, groaning in annoyance. "The KIYOMI…!" She wanted to bang her head in the mud below her feet for making such an embarrassing report. Instead, she just continued, with a more grained voice from her anger as she gritted her teeth. "Should be able to scan and record any secret information about our school from a mile away."

It was then Hackman's turn to explain to the camera, giving Dawn time to grumble at the boy who dared name their prized project.

"Assessing the student body and data from the school's records, it shall take note of any criminal history of each individual and determine the need to punish any wrongdoer based on the severity of their actions." Hackman explained. "In short, this drone is meant for anti-bullying operations."

Once she was done complaining, Dawn returned to the camera, back to giving her report with excitement. Her fingers spread out, with her claws out. Her grin wide enough to send chills down everyone's spines as they knew how restless she was about the drone's true purpose. She put in all the energy in her voice to deliver a gruelling message to those that shall fear their machine's might.

"With this, the forces of the oppressors that be the bullies of our school will never hurt us again! They shall bend to our feet when they witness the full power of our greatest weapon!"

"Good." Hackman sighed, shaking his head. "Now that we have needlessly repeated the goals of our science project that we've been blabbering about for every single recording, we shall now see if our modifications have enabled our prone to finally operate."

Then, Dawn noticed something from the stands, nudging Hackman to tell him of her discovery.

"Also, worth taking note, partner. Remind me to strip our robot right after the science fair. Sunbeam's getting gaming anxiety again." She pointed to the stands while Gem turned the camera to face Sunbeam. The boy was curled up on his seat, weeping with tears while mumbling inaudible words. True to Dawn's word, he was going through a rough trance of separation anxiety from his one and only source of off-school joy.

But the show must go on. Their drone would do a grand service to all students in Elmore Junior High. Sooner or later, there will be a demand for more drones and very soon, there would be no need for sacrificing game consoles to build these things. Research and development would do well to find proper alternatives to this indie project.

"Right. Let's begin." Hackman announced, clapping his hands together. "Start the scan." After sobbing a little more, Sunbeam grabbed one of the controllers he had, activating the drone. At the press of the buttons and the movement of the analog sticks, the drone responded according to his actions, as if he was playing an actual game. It fired up its thrusters and hovered over the ground. Sunbeam pushed the thumbstick to the left, turning the drone towards the school. He set his sights on a window where he then moved it up towards it.

Monitoring the drone's camera, Dawn used Hackman's face to view what it was seeing, coordinating closely with Sunbeam as she directed him towards their destination. Then, Sunbeam pressed another button, extending the robot's arms out. With two pinches of its mandibles, the drone then clipped them onto the window and opened it.

They inspected the room, seeing that the coast was clear. When no one was seen, the drone drifted into the room, heading for a desk on the other end of the room. The walls were lined with pictures and certificates that confirmed the location to the kids.

This was where they would the info they needed for the drone. Where else would you find such confidential records than the principal's office?

The drone then got to work to scan the room for the files. With its eye, it then projected a ray of light that beamed throughout the room. It slowly swung its scanner all around, scanning through the desk and the cabinets for the school files. They built the scanner with the latest in surveillance technology, allowing it to scan through any solid object to reach whatever was inside. In this case, the drone was able to get a good amount of information from within the filing cabinets and the desk drawers, picking up everything it could find.

The data upload was being operated from the other side, progress being displayed via Hackman's screen. The boy was connected into the drone's systems, reading along the statistics being formulated by the scan. The yellow bar began to fill up like the ones found on loading screens, giving the kids a good view on the progress.

Finally, after a minute of scanning, the bar was filled and the data sweep was complete.

"Scan complete." reported Hackman. The screen then changed to list out the details found by the drone. An extensive list of all of the students of Elmore Junior High was instantly recorded and categorized into several folders, placing each set of files for each student. "So far, so good." Hackman proceeded to read through the records, assessing each student to test for the drone's accuracy. So far, it was able to receive information about every student, past and present, that had been identified and evaluated by the school.

However, Hackman then shivered, moaning with disgust over a certain entry. Apparently, the drone proved to be too good at its job.

"Ergh... A little too good… Now, let us see if our drone shall respond and react to any of the bullies of our school."

For this test to fully prove successful, the crew needed one last phase to be completed. The drone was able to retrieve the intel in its processor. Now, it just needed to put that information to use. It was time to find a hamster to test its power on.

As the drone returned to them, Dawn looked around to find their test subject. It was a wise decision to set their test at the school field, because, like a grass field in the Monster Fight Friends video game, there were always wild critters ripe for the taking. It didn't take long before she found who they needed.

There was a guy doing push-ups on the football court, puffing wildly with each push of his body. The bear had a large build, buffed up with muscles broad enough to make any bodybuilder jealous. If only that impressive structure was backed up by a good personality, because Carter Klein was among the rough, tough guys in the school, always out to tyrannize everyone who got in his way. A contemporary to Linda Jonah, but he was only second to her power, only because Carter was more volatile than her. That, unfortunately for him, made him the perfect target for the team.

"And there's our test subject." Dawn grinned evilly. She went to face the jock from afar, ready to coax the boy into attacking her. "Hey, Carter!" she yelled. Like an actual predator, Carter heard the screams of a kid just begging to be beaten down to a pulp.

Enraged, he found Dawn calling out to him. Much like Linda, no one would dare call Carter Klein in the middle of his workout session, and Dawn was apparently about to sign her own death warrant. Oh, how the tables would turn…

Dawn then began to mock Carter, unleashing a barrage of wacky insults to provoke him. At the ready, Sunbeam prepared the drone for the defence. However, he, along with Hackman and Gene, were not so sure this plan would work out so well. Previous tests had them beaten up, bruised and flattened from failed tests of the drone. Ten test runs later, and they hoped for a miracle. Dawn, on the other hand, was ready to risk her life for this test to be a success. Thus, Sunbeam had to be ready for anything, ready to set the drone on manual control in case of a lack of response. At the first sign of trouble, he would race to pick everyone up and evacuate the scene. All he knew from there was that there was going to be a high-stakes chase if things didn't go right.

"Arnold Schwarzenegger called! He wants his voice back!" mocked Dawn. The first blow to Carter struck him, causing him to growl in anger.

"What did you say?!" he yelled back, gritting his canines with a voice so deep, so threatening that anyone would run at the very sound of him. Yet, Dawn didn't flinch, her confidence keeping her from faulting.

The drone kept an eye on the two, sensing the danger that was elevating. As if on human (or whatever you want to call the people of TAWOG) instinct, it picked up the hostility coming from the bully and immediately set its sights on him. A carry-over from Hackman's prototype of a security detector, along with a bit of Gem's input on threats and how to counter them.

"Is that a new hair-cut?! Hard to tell, but you sure wasted ten minutes of the barber's life, just by cutting one inch of your toothbrush of hair!" Dawn kept insulting Carter, further adding to his building anger.

"Don't make me come after you, Luna!" he threatened her with a claw out of his index finger. Despite the rising danger, Dawn stooped so low that she let out a yawn before delivering the last punch.

"Hey! I didn't mean to offend you!" she laughed sarcastically. "Feel free to file _charges_. Get it?! Because you're a bull?! HAHAHAHA!"

At last, Carter had reached the limit. His face literally painted red while his nose exhaled steam. His teeth and claws were fully sharpened and his body was pumped up with double the body size. With all the anger in his system, Carter had blown his top, roaring at the top of his voice. The booming power of his voice sent a earth-shattering chill down everyone's spine, except for Dawn's, who had nerves of steel.

After getting enraged enough, Carter then charged forward, running on all fours to tackle the girl who dared mock him. Dawn, however, remained still, standing in her place with a smug on her face while blowing on her claws.

"I'LL GET YOU!" Carter was about to jump over and pounce on the girl. But before anyone could react to save her, the boy was then hit with a stunning field of electricity, immediately putting an end to his angry dash. The bear fell to the ground, dragging his face along the dirt as he was incapacitated by cables that were wrapped around his body. His muscles shrunk back as he fell unconscious.

When Dawn looked behind, she grinned, seeing the drone had done its job. It had fired the Taser wires just in the nick of time, putting Carter down on the ground before he had the chance. After that brilliant save, the drone then flew over to the fallen body, reading out the terms of his crimes.

_**CARTER KLEIN. SUBJECT WANTED FOR SEVEN COUNTS OF PHYSICAL ASSAULT, THIRTY COUNTS OF MENTAL ABUSE, AND EIGHT-HUNDRED COUNTS OF ORDERING HAWAIIAN PIZZA… **_

_**SUBJECT MUST BE APPREHENDED AND SENT TO PRINCIPAL BROWN FOR DISCIPLANRY REHABILITATION.**_

It then lifted the heavy boy with its arms with surprising ease, hauling him towards a safe location where Carter would not escape. If all went well, he would serve as a prime example of what this drone could do.

"It worked…" Gem couldn't believe it. After all the failures they had to go through, it almost looked like it was going to be one last blow to their work before they'd turn up to the science fair completely empty-handed. Now, with the test a success, hope had been restored, victory and a perfect grade was reachable again! "It worked!" She jumped up and down, filled with joy. Hackman laughed along with her, elated that his hard work had paid off.

Sunbeam and Dawn ran over and gave each other a high-five. Another brilliant success at the hands of the pair. When the drone returned from its delivery, it landed next to them, shutting down after a successful capture of a bully in madness.

"This is it!" Hackman cheered. "The drone is fully operational. Soon, we shall have our success at last!" However, Dawn was not fully satisfied. The drone was able to knock out the second worst bully in school. If they were going to achieve the perfect results, they needed to be sure that the drone was ready against the worst of the worst.

"Oh no. It's not over yet." Dawn chuckled, rubbing her palms together in anticipations for the real deal. "We need this drone to undergo one last test."

Linda Jonah herself…

"We shall see if our glorious creation will stand up to the likes of every single bully in school!" she sneered with glee, putting the others in a state of worry over her apparent obsession.

But then again, seeing just how capable the drone was against Carter Klein made them feel hopeful. There was no way that anyone could stand against them now, so if Linda Jonah could be subdued, they would be the ultimate saviours of the school.

"Soon, everyone will know what this bad boy can do!"

* * *

Unfortunately, that little spark of victory was snuffed out too quickly…

"Okay. Maybe everyone except Linda…"

Sadly, the drone tried to withstand the might of the monstrous tyrant of the school, reduced to a wreck of nuts and bolts. The body was completely mauled and crushed, sparking a little to show its last moments of life.

By its sides, Hackman and Gem were stunned, feeling the shock of their loss right after their first taste of victory. Among those to grieve the most, though, was Sunbeam, who cried endlessly over the destruction of his favourite game console. The joy and memories saved into it were now gone, crushed and rendered useless. It was like all of his life had been shattered before his very eyes, bringing him down into an emotional mess.

"Z-Cube Five… What have I done…?!" he wailed, bending down to the ground with his tears flowing like a waterfall. "I may never find that 1001st coin ever again!"

"Relax, I can fix it back up." groaned Dawn, willing to use her mechanical skills to shut the boy up and have his console back. Seriously, it wasn't hard to rebuild that console. Technology had come a long way, and advancements had made it possible to provide easier maintenance for personal repairs. If Dawn could build a drone out of spare parts and junk, she could easily fix the Z-Cube until it was good as new.

Coming back to the issue at hand, the team was now back at square one. They could rebuild the drone with the same schematics and set up the same statistics, but as long as Linda was impervious to its power, it wasn't going to cut it for the science fair tomorrow.

"We'll need to modify it further." stated Dawn.

"Come on! Why don't we just rebuild as it is and just present it tomorrow?" suggested Gem, growing impatient again.

"Because, Gem…" urged Dawn. "If we can't prove to the world that our drone could bring down the worst bullies in the world, then it's useless." "For our drone to be a success, Linda Jonah must be defeated!"

"I can't argue with a perfect score." agreed Hackman. "But what modifications would you suggest? And we need to hurry, because we cannot afford another delay."

"You guys go ahead and rebuild the drone as much as you can." told Dawn.

"What?!" exclaimed Gem. "Why do we have to do the hard work?"

"Don't worry! The schematics will tell you everything you need to do." said Sunbeam. "Just reprogram the drone with the same numbers and it shall be fine again."

"We'll be back to finish with the rest." added Dawn, walking with Sunbeam and leaving the two teammates to fix the mess with disgruntled feelings. Meanwhile, the other pair were heading out from school to venture into the town, where they planned to head to the one place where they could get anything they wanted.

* * *

The search for the upgrades needed took Sunbeam and Dawn to the town's commercial district. Their trek through the Elmore evening took them to a well-known store amongst the people. What was once an old video rental store, it was now a new video game store, where it was fully dedicated to the sales of the trendiest games, consoles, hardware and merch for the gaming professionals of the town. The primary source for Sunbeam's video game entertainment stood where it had always been, even in the days of his dad's youth. Its new navy-blue walls stood out like a sore thumb, edged with purple lines that made the store a modern highlight within the more traditional suburban shop lots.

It was here that Sunbeam and Dawn would find their hardware for the drone. They entered through the automatic doors, bringing themselves in the fresh, sci-fi interior of the shop. Because of its appeal, there were numerous customers who were already browsing the PC releases at the shelves, looking for that new hot hit, _Call of Booty: Pork Zone_.

That left the counter completely open for the pair to tend to. Behind it, manning the store was a newcomer to Elmore's expanded collection of jobs. Archie Needlemeyer, cousin of the previous work horse, Larry Needlemeyer.

The new kid on the block looked very similar to his cousin, only with a pair of glasses and longer blonde hair that was tied to a ponytail behind his head. He and Larry shared the same voice, which proved to be an amusing fact to those who knew the latter well.

Ever since Larry had finally freed himself of the ultimate form of corporate slavery and went off to be married with his long-time lover (finally…), Archie had volunteered to take over and keep the town from falling into another dreadful apocalypse.

Needless to say; it proved to be a disaster from day one…

Unlike Larry, however, Archie Needlemeyer was a lot more incompetent at multi-managing Elmore's workforce than his cousin. He was clumsier, always stumbling and breaking things before they even arrived to customers. He was obtuse, unable to remember important details that could very well keep him at his job.

Still, he could be relied on when they needed the goods. But that was where his greatest weakness laid. Archie was a naïve individual, always falling for Dawn's manipulation when she wanted the things she needed. It was all too easy to bribe or coax him into partaking in her usual antics, allowing her and Sunbeam easy access to his services.

How he was able to keep his jobs and the town from descending into chaos was anyone's guess…

"Hey, Archie." greeted Dawn, leaning her arm onto the counter.

"Oh. Hey, Dawn. Sunbeam." welcomed Archie, waving his hand. "What can I get you guys today?"

"We need some parts for a new drone we're making for the science fair today. Do you have any augmentations for military-grade weapons?"

Archie flinched. sweat popping out from the back of his head. Panic filled in his head when Dawn made her intentions clear. He looked back and forth, his irises switching their focus between his customers and the girl. Conflicted over who to serve today, the newbie cashier man had to choose who would serve the business more than the other.

Dawn was always a customer who always looked for the rarer, higher-on-demand goods; the stuff that would not be easily available on the stands or the shelves. These were things that could be kept behind the scenes, made available only through private contact. Unfortunately, these are goods that were very shady, dangerous and considered contraband by the authorities. Should any transactions between anyone, much less with a little girl, be caught in the public eye, it was goodbye to Archie.

But the naïve man had the town's best interests in mind. He needed to keep this town stable, and as long as money was being transferred into the bank, he wouldn't mind. After all, this was Elmore; as if this town wasn't one to shy away from danger in any form.

Eventually, Archie chose to give in and allow the daughter of the most troublesome family in town to have her way, just as long as she didn't make a scene.

"Ahem!" Archie made a fake cough, trying to dissuade any suspicion while catching everyone's attention. "I don't know what you're talking about, valued customer! You won't find illegal arms anywhere in this peaceful town!" While the customers had their ears perked, the cashier then shouted out an announcement to the few people inside. He looked for an excuse to convince them to leave, but it had to be something that _everyone_ had to fall for. Something really bizarre yet terrifying…

"Okay, ladies and gentlemen! We're closed for the day due to some… uh…

"Meme infestation!"

Then, all at once, the customers began to run out the door like a herd of wildebeest. Sunbeam braced for the brunt of the crowd running out the door, taking cover behind Dawn, while the fox girl checked her nails, neutral as always. When the dust was cleared and the store empty, there were only three people remaining.

"Thanks for stopping by!" cheered Archie, almost too late to bid his customers farewell. After the happy façade, however, he then scowled at the two kids at the front, growling in frustration that he had to close down the shop in another emergency; an emergency about something so random… Dawn played this to her advantage; if the people of Elmore can be this obtuse, then she'd be a master manipulator!

"You owe me, Luna." whispered Archie with venom. But Dawn was willing to compensate for the loss of customers. She turned to her friend behind her. She extended her palm towards him, gesturing for him to give her something.

"Cough it up, Sunbeam." she told him. Sunbeam dug through his pockets for the cash that Dawn needed. After a brief inspection, he then came up empty-handed. Shrugging his shoulders, the boy laughed sheepishly.

"Oops. Looks like I forgot to bring my allowance today." However, Dawn didn't buy it. With one powerful strike of her hand, she chopped Sunbeam in the stomach and the neck, forcing the boy to literally cough up what looked like ten dollars! Catching the soaked money, she then slapped the money onto the counter, much to the disgust of Archie.

"Here you go, Archie." Money was money, however, and despite his sickened state, the cashier proceeded to shove the money into his pocket.

A little reward for his services to her.

"ECK!" choked Sunbeam, holding his throat while gasping for air.

"Thought you could fool me this time?" mocked Dawn. Once he was recovered, Sunbeam stared at Dawn, swinging his fingers and pointed towards her.

"I'll get you one of these days, Dawn." he growled.

"_Meme infestation_… Who writes this stuff?" complained Archie. After the awkward exchange of cash, he walked into the staff room, where he moved to a desk and reached for a button underneath it.

After pressing it, the store began to shut itself in. Metal doors slammed down at the windows, blocking all sunlight from entering the building and darkening the interior.

The counter outside, where the cash register and all the smaller electronics being displayed for sale underneath a glass case were, began to shake while the kids watched. It then slid into the checker-tiled floor like a mole digging into the ground. In its place, a new counter popped out of the ground. On it, its top flipped over and expanded into several boards, revealing a new, secret assortment of goods, which ranged from what looked like bombs, swords, other electronics and more, neatly sorted and arranged based on different categories. All around, a fancy purple light illuminated from the thin slits underneath the objects, shining a brilliant display of colour that made the display even more attractive.

This was an emergency stash, only meant for safety precautions should Elmore be subjected to an alien invasion or another apocalypse. But there were other exceptions, mainly if a customer was so willing or crazy enough to afford these items. This was not the first time Sunbeam and Dawn were witnessing this, though. When they needed the more extreme equipment or tools, they'd resort to this secret stash of experimental or highly-classified goods to pick from and use to their hearts' content.

One would think Dawn would be crazy to being able to buy any of these dangerous tools, never mind using them. But she was a Luna, and the bigger the troubles, the bigger the explosions needed. Dawn's entire family wouldn't be mad at her for buying such explosive weapons; they'd be proud! They actually have a global business that profits off the suffering of others. At the rate the world was at the time, they were swimming in cash and gold coins every day, and all Dawn had to do to get a share of the cash was to tell her dad that she was cooking up a little scheme and he would be happy to oblige.

Meanwhile, Archie then exited the room after he shut the cameras down to avoid any detection from his manager. He returned to the kids as they viewed the new wave of rather illegal items that were being sold in secret.

"Here they are. Take your pick." Sunbeam and Dawn scanned the large collection of dangerous tools, figuring out what might be suitable for upgrading… Dawn cursed mentally, dreading to call their drone the cringe-worthy name that Sunbeam chose. One by one, she began to assess every weapon or accessory that could be of use to the drone. As far as she thought, all of them could be used. These bad boys were powerful enough to blow up an entire city, let alone one Linda Jonah. She just needed one that really packed the punch and she'd be fully complete. She did have to consider a safe option, however, as Sunbeam already made it clear that they needed an upgrade that was not world-shattering; just one that was enough to topple the mighty bully without blowing up the school. Tempting as it was to buy the huge death-ray blaster at the very top of the set, Dawn was forced to go along with the safer choices first. Besides, that one costed an entire mansion's worth of money! Best to save up before she could get it…

"Let's see. Flashbangs?" Dawn picked up the explosive canister and showed it to Sunbeam, asking for his opinion.

"Nah. Too bright." rejected the boy. Dawn then placed the flashbang down and went for another weapon, grabbing two tiny missiles.

"Mini Sidewinders?" asked Dawn again.

"Too explosive." dismissed Sunbeam. The list went on and on; Dawn picks up an item, Sunbeam rejects.

A can of eye-burning pepper spray…

"Pepper spray?"

"Too spicy."

A gun that shoots out icky, transparent goo of the undead…

"Ecto-blaster?"

"Too spooky."

Tinier versions of nuclear bombs in a box…

"Fat Man crackers?"

"You wanna start World War Four?"

"When did we have the third?"

"Don't you remember it ended just a few minutes after it began because of some stupid misunderstanding?"

"Oh yeah…"

And… some kind of metal conclave-shaped tubes with purple discs wrapped around them?

"Kryzoptian phase-shifters?"

"What are those for?" Dawn then read a label on one of the weird bullet-shaped objects.

_Confidential… Known only to the personnel at Area 51…_

"Nope. Might attract conspirators."

After viewing through all of their options, Sunbeam and Dawn started to run out of choices. There wasn't anything that was effective and discreet enough to be used for their drone. Their hopes were waning slowly, their desperation grew. They had to find the right stuff for the job, or Linda Jonah was going to go undefeated and the science project would be a bust. There was no room for second place. This drone could be the pinnacle of child safety for schools across the world! No bully was to be set free to overpower these mighty machines. Sunbeam and Dawn were set on making their creation a perfect invention.

Just then, when all hope was about to be lost, Dawn laid her eyes on one tiny piece of the collection that went unnoticed until now.

"Oohhh…" "What's this?"

A tiny chip with a red X slashed onto its surface, laid neatly within the larger tools. As Dawn took it into her fingers, the chip revealed its two rows of sharp, needle-like connectors. It didn't look awe-inspiring, but when Dawn picked it up, her senses tingled with her instincts kicking in. Her chaotic mind was already telling her that this miniscule chip would be the key to their problems.

This looked like some sort of computer chip, and Dawn's mind was telling her that that was what their drone needed, even if she didn't know what it did.

"Don't touch that!" Archie shouted, attempting to snatch the chip away from Dawn. Instinctively, she pulled back just in time to avoid the attack. She then looked at the man's face and noticed the sheer panic drawn all over him. Sweat was already dropping down his skin and heavy breathing made his body act like a tire pumper. Those were the signs that told Dawn that the small chip was something Archie did not want her, or anybody else, to touch.

"Archie." she called suspiciously. "Is there something you know about this?"

"You don't know what you're holding!" warned Archie. That AI chip was taken out of a government research lab. My contact gave this to me to hide it from the public." As he explained, Archie's story perplexed the pair, wondering how on Earth did this simple man got caught up with some governmental secret!

Archie kept telling them the dangers of possessing such a dangerous piece of hardware, roaring with fear and compassion as if he was telling some horror story.

"He told me this chip contains all the raw power and implementation of the entire computer network! Secrets can be accessed to harness great power. If this falls in the wrong hands, it could be catastrophic!

"This will spell the end of the world as we know it!"

"We'll take it." Dawn nonchalantly agreed to buy it. Weirdly enough, Archie too seemed to forget that she was holding something akin to a WMD and proceeded with the transaction.

"That'll be fifty thousand dollars." told Archie, shocking Sunbeam in particular.

"Fifty-thousand?!" the boy shouted, his whole body jerking with shock. That amount of money could buy him **two-hundred **Z-Cube's and then some! No way this tiny little piece of robotics was that expensive!

"Yes. This stuff must have costed them a fortune." explained Archie. "And I ain't cheap, so pay it up or book it."

Regardless, the two was prepared for the inevitability of a stubborn sales man, especially Archie. As blasphemous as the price was, there was always a way to go around this. And when it came to the foolish young man before them, the options were limitless.

"Alright, then." said Dawn, shrugging her shoulders. "How about we give you a little treat?" Archie lifted his one brow upwards, cautiously wondering what the girl was saying. The fox girl then pulled out a box from her bag before she placed it on the counter. Immediately, Archie's eyes lit up with watery fluid, gleaming brightly at the package put in front of him. His mouth salivated when he saw what was behind the plastic sheet that revealed the content inside. Like a baby staring at a lollipop, Archie was about to burst with joy when he saw the figure within. The action figure wore some ancient-looking robes and had a laser sword inside, automatically putting it within the science-fiction category. But what possibly made it so appealing to nerds like Archie was how it was coated in a transparent coat of icy-blue, standing over a flat diorama of sand.

"Is that…?!" Awestruck, Archie couldn't speak without stopping to bask in the glory of the special figure inside. His obsession for such a one-of-a-kind collectable was as clear as the shop's décor amongst the rest of the area.

"The rare figure of the 'Fork Ghost of Coby-One It-Cannot-Be?'" hummed Dawn, tempting the man towards this exclusively, ultra-rare figure. "Why, yes, it is…" Archie reached out to grab the box and finally feel the joy of having this legendary figure in his hands, only for it to be snatched away by Dawn, cutting the happiness short.

"Ah, ah, ah!" Dawn twiddled her finger, shaking her head.

"Don't you know many of those things they've made?!" exclaimed Archie. "Three! And they're worth all the gold and diamonds of the world! Even the President of the United States can't afford this!"

"And with only a sum of five-thousand dollars, it's yours." assured Dawn, going full saleswoman mode on him. "So, we makin' this trade or what?"

Archie stopped to think about the ethical side of the trade. Was it really worth exchanging what was possibly the world's most dangerous secret with a mere figure? A figure that was so rare, so valuable that it would make him the envy of countless Stellar Odyssey nerds out there! This was his only chance to have it! Should he risk trading the chip over the figure with the likes of Dawn Luna, the frequent abuser of the stuff she gets from his stores?

It didn't take long for Archie to make the right decision…

"Fine!" Archie slammed his head onto the counter, having to rest from his nerdy dilemma. "Here." In defeat, he handed the chip to Dawn, who obliged to the offer and gave the man what he wanted. A victorious smirk flashed on her face while she flipped the chip up in the air with her thumb, catching it before placing it in her pocket.

"Thanks, Archie. Glad we had this deal." Now that she was done, Dawn and Sunbeam turned around to exit the store. Behind them, Archie held onto the box like a new-born baby, grinning madly and his brain swirling crazily over having what was the pot of gold on the other side of the rainbow. He punched his fist into the air, triumph over the rich folk burning brightly in his heart.

"Yes! The nerds of the town will bend to my feet in awe! Screw you, collectors! Don't underestimate the common worker!"

While the store clerk cheered wildly, the two kids exited the store with their new prize. Dawn took the chip out of her pocket and gave it to Sunbeam. With such a tiny piece, the boy had to be very careful with it, and he knew better than to trust Dawn with it. For all he knew, she would probably use it for her own nefarious deeds. If this AI chip could be useful for their drone, then it was important that the more morally-inclined teammate would safeguard it until they could build the drone.

"Great. Now, we just need to place this in…" Dawn said, but then groaned again at the mention of their drone's cursed name. "KIYOMI… And it won't be just bully-proof. It'll be…"

Together, Sunbeam and Dawn cheered, jumping in the air and high-fiving each other with powerful enthusiasm.

"**EVIL-PROOF!**" They landed on the ground afterwards, ready to head back to their team and resume construction of the drone.

"Seriously, though, we really need to come up with a better name, or we'll be the laughing stock of the fair…" sighed Dawn, but Sunbeam still refused to budge against his own choices…

* * *

The cafeteria was like a meadow for a herd of cows. Students craved for food after tenuous periods of boring classes, willing to sit their butts down without having to be subjected to their teachers' varying flaws, which ranged from sheer boredom to absolute tyranny. Recess was the only time, other than the school's end, when the students would feel the joy of freedom, having to enjoy every single second of their rest, chatting away or playing around, until the bell rang.

Everyone wanted to have a break, especially since there was a very important event to prepare for. Those involved with the science fair later that day had to be energized and ready to present their projects to the school and visiting science-related people, who'd come to find dreamers with potential.

Among those dreamers were Gem and Hackman. Sat a table in the cafeteria, eating up their usual meals, they were joined by their science partners. After spending the night rebuilding their drone and applying the upgrade Dawn obtained, they were now blissfully enjoying their meal.

However, time was of the essence. While their drone, which Sunbeam still hadn't bothered to change its name, was successful against Carter Klein, they still had to be sure that it was fully capable of dealing with Linda Jonah, the worst of the worst. Their last attempt to pacify the giant war machine ended in total failure, costing them a day of repairs and modifications.

Gem's frantic mind raced back and forth, her eyes shifting between her food and the clock. The science fair was only hours away and they were pressed for time. If they couldn't find Linda before then, then the test was a failure and they'd have to settle on second best.

Worse still, if they do find her, would the drone be able to beat her this time? If not, then it would be destroyed again, and they did not have the time to rebuild.

Part of Gem and Hackman wished they would just leave Linda alone and settle on the successful capture of Carter as their prime evidence. Truthfully, however, deep down inside them, they all wanted to see Linda pay for the crimes she committed on basically everyone.

Dawn had her hopes high, munching on her half-eaten hotdog, keeping her eyes peeled for any clues on Linda's whereabouts. The drone sat waiting underneath the table for the ambush, Sunbeam keeping the controller on his lap for when the time arrived.

They would have probably gone to search for Linda themselves. However, being victims of her wrath had given them basically everything they needed to know about her hunting routine. If there's one place where Linda Jonah would be to terrorize her prey, it would be here at the cafeteria, preying upon unsuspecting occupants in the cafeteria and demanding their lunch or money.

And truly enough, they would have their predictions confirmed.

From out the doors, a large monster truck burst in, busting open the doors with a raging charge. The loud and violent entrance of Linda sent a brutal shockwave throughout everyone's spines, sounding the alarms of every person in the cafeteria, even the cafeteria lady. All of the students, including Gem and Hackman, ran for their lives. Everyone ran out the doors to safety, leaving the room empty. Gem and Hackman, on the other hand, decided to hide behind a pillar, watching in horror as the bully set her sights on the two lone students left at their table.

But with Linda's thunderous entrance, everyone virtually abandoned the cafeteria. Everyone except Sunbeam and Dawn… This was it. The bait had been set; time to catch them a bully.

At this point, everyone would have thought Sunbeam and Dawn were mad. Usually, they too would run; Sunbeam from out of pure terror while Dawn just enjoyed the thrill of being chased. Today, they did not even bother to stand, continuing to eat as normal. Linda must have thought they were being stupid, because they should know well by now, that everyone should run while she was around.

Alas, because of their apparent stupidity, she decided to target them anyway.

"Hey, kitty-cat!" she yelled. Again, where once her threats would send Sunbeam cowering in fear, now there was no response. Just a neutral hand wave and a general greeting.

"Hey, Linda." greeted Sunbeam before winking at Dawn. The two grinned, waiting for the bully to drive closer. Gem and Hackman remained far away, observing the showdown from behind the pillar. The doll prayed frantically while Hackman began to habitually assess the odds of success, as usual.

Linda didn't really care why the pair weren't running; all that mattered was that they were sitting still. So, she could probably call this her lucky day. She drove dangerously close to the boy first, engine growling and huffing a cloud of exhaust smoke onto him. Sunbeam did his best not to break down as his body was being bombarded with fear and trauma. It was like visiting a great white shark in the ocean, but without the safety cage. A carnivore was about to pounce on him and his mind was telling him to run.

But he stayed his course. This is exactly what everyone needed; to have Linda at the moment of great vulnerability and allow their drone to seize the opportunity. All hopes laid on that tiny upgrade; the apparently nuclear explosion—level experimental AI chip that was implanted into KIYOMI. There weren't any visible changes to the drone after the insertion of the chip, but he hoped that the upgrade would work when in action.

So, he sat by, taking out the second sandwich from his lunch bag and proceeding to take a bite, in an attempt to goad Linda into threatening him further.

"I see you've brought lunch, peasant." growled Linda. "Care to pay your taxes?"

"Actually, I'm keeping my lunch for today." Despite the threat, Sunbeam defied her, taking one more bite as an insult.

"Oh… so you think you can rebel against me, do 'ya?!" roared Linda, booming with anger. Her tires dragged on the tiled floor, revving up for retaliation. Her eyes shot themselves onto Sunbeam with all her vigour. She raised her front part of her body like a stallion ready to charge with flames bursting out of her exhaust pipes. The fiery display of rage proved to be overwhelming for the "I sentence you to death!"

The monster truck was about to slam her front wheels down and squash the insects who dared to resist her rule. Sunbeam then grabbed the controller from his lap and pressed the button. At once, the drone flew from out of the table and towards Linda, ready to make use of its modifications to subdue the bully once again.

It readied its net launcher to fire its electrical net on the monster truck, deploying the tubular cannon from out of its back and aimed right for her. Before Linda could get the jump on her, the drone then fired the net, launching a sparking net of cable wires large enough to envelop the truck down. The current channelling through the wires was sent firing away at the mechanical insides, shocking Linda in a frenzy of high voltage punishment. The power of the shock was tremendous enough to singe through her thick body. However, it wasn't enough to pin her down.

"Why that little-!" Linda spun around to see that useless piece of junk again. She'd laugh at how pathetic the kids were when they tried to rebuild it, but her anger was already built up to do some damage. She was about to throw up her cable arms from her dashboard to catch that drone and slam it down for her to roll over and crush.

But as she reached out, the drone successfully shifted to the side, buzzing around to avoid more of her attempts to catch it. Each time it dodged her, the truck grew angrier and angrier, getting more aggressive with her attacks.

Finally, after evading all of her moves, KIYOMI finally prepared its ultimate weapon; the highlight of the project. From its back, a new different cannon was deployed, larger and far more formidable in form. It aimed for Linda with a laser that beamed towards her face. Before she could react, the drone then fired the cannon, launching a massive ion blast that shocked the truck with greater power than the net.

The burst sent a stunning pulse throughout Linda's body, striking all circuits and wires that acted as her blood vessels and nerves. The full force of the blast shut down all activity in her body as she suffered from a spasm of pure shocking terror. After fidgeting wildly for a brief second, the truck fell onto the ground, tires spread out as she seemed to have fallen unconscious.

After the attack, Sunbeam and Dawn slowly and carefully approached the fallen bully, with Gem and Hackman still hiding behind their cover to await the results. The giant was dropped down like a sleeping bear, fried from the shock she received from the drone. Everyone came to see if it did the trick. Getting slowly closer, they inspected the body, watching out for the slightest sign of recovery. They bided their time, giving themselves a few seconds to check if Linda was going to remain motionless.

Five seconds in, as they came close enough, Sunbeam poked her front tire, checking for a sign. A few seconds later and the bully was still down for the count, unable to move. Her eyes were closed, telling them she was knocked out. Her breathing was at a calm slow, Otherwise, there seemed to be no waking up from this; Linda was finally beaten.

The drone came down to deliver the report on the bully, confirming what they all hoped for.

_**LINDA JONAH, SUBJECT WANTED FOR ONE-HUNDRED AND SIXTY-EIGHT COUNTS OF PHYSICAL ASSAULT, NINETY-THREE COUNTS OF MENTAL ABUSE, ONE THOUSAND COUNTS OF ACTIVE DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY THROUGHOUT ELMORE...**_

_**AND ONE COUNT OF ASSAULT ON **_**ME**_**...**_

_**SUBJECT MUST BE APPREHENDED AND SENT TO PRINCIPAL BROWN FOR EXTREME REHABILITATION.**_

If there was a way to describe their happiness, it would be like a grand celebration.

Their bodies couldn't contain the extra excitement that came from defeating someone who was once thought to be invincible. Years of being subjugated by Linda left them without hope of ever rising up against her.

Now, with one single drone, it was finally possible… The tyrant could fall, at last!

They cheered at the top of their lungs, bringing themselves into a group hug and jumping for joy for defeating Linda. Their drone continued to drift emotionless up above them as they celebrated the downfall of their worst foe yet. They kept their cheers up for the next minute, letting the joy settle in for a while. Sunbeam chortled with delight at seeing his worst enemy down on the ground, finally confirming to everyone that their newest creation was unstoppable. He could finally show their new project to the brilliant minds of the world and bring an end to bullying in schools throughout the world! They continued to cheer for another minute until the jumping stopped.

Sunbeam let go of his friends and finished his laughter, feeling victorious in achieving the impossible. He turned to tell his friends of what they shall achieve next, full of hope and confidence. When he looked at his friends after their cheers, he spotted something…

Off…

As they stopped laughing, Gem and Hackman faced each other with aspiring glee. Unfortunately for Sunbeam, it wasn't the happy kind of glee. His nerves began to tingle uncomfortably as he looked at their new faces. Their grins crept upwards a little more, almost wicked in a sense. Their teeth gritted with only unsettling giggles escaping their mouths. The irises in their eyes shrunk to tiny dots, making them look delirious, unhinged, mad…

Mad with power…

"With our drone, we won't need to fear anyone, anymore!" declared Hackman, uncharacteristically jumping into a dictatorial state of pride.

"It is our greatest weapon yet! Soon, we will distribute these to schools across the world! And with their service to the greater good of the student body, we will be rich!" added Gem, just as ambitious. With Linda Jonah defeated, their minds were expanding on the newer possibilities of utilizing their new toy against those who shall tremble before its lethal arsenal. The taste for revenge was almost too sweet for them to ignore.

Their sudden change of emotions threw Sunbeam into a mix of confusion and fright. The boy's body shivered awkwardly for being in the presence of two whacked-out students, flabbergasted by how they just turned from young, excited hopefuls to delusional, power-hungry psychos the next second. Soon, he realized that their greatest prize proved to be too great…

"I'm starting to think this whole thing's getting into their heads, Dawn." he tried to talk to the fox girl, but then, he noticed that she wasn't around as well. "Dawn?"

"Guys, I have an idea." Then, much to Sunbeam's fear, Dawn looked to be just as grimly wicked as the others were, lost in the power of their weapon. Again, his worries grew exponentially, fearing the worst out of this development. The boy didn't like where she was going with this 'idea' she had. An idea from Dawn Luna could only mean the worst possible thing anyone could ever think of, and now that she joined the circle of, obsessed with power, the world was about to turn upside down.

"We can use our drone not just for the bullies!" declared Dawn, so loud that the whole school could hear her.

"What?!" screamed Sunbeam.

"Yeah! There are people out there who have defied us, called us losers and made a fool out of us!" agreed Hackman.

"Maybe we can help those who felt rejections in their lives and make them rise from the ashes of humiliation and defeat!" reasoned Gem.

"Yes! Nothing will stop us now!" With Dawn's final cry, the trio laughed evilly. Lightning began to flash outside with roars of thunder adding to the sudden thrill of fear.

Outside the cafeteria, Dawn then stood at the middle of the doorway, hands pushed against her hips as she faced a crowd of onlookers who bore witness to the events that unfolded. What Sunbeam saw in their faces, however, was not what he wanted to see. Instead of the happy cheers and grateful cries of celebration he envisioned from the students, there was only utter, destructive fear. Boys and girls turning white by the sheer power of their drone, fearful by what had been declared aloud by Gem and Hackman. And what was worse; Dawn was just as wild with her aspirations as they were!

At the violent sound of her voice, Dawn made everyone tremble in fear, causing them all to run for their lives as she boldly declared her power over them.

"That's right, you fools! Run while you can!" she taunted with an evil laugh. "We have created the tool that shall bring your demise!"

Sunbeam became unsettled by what was happening. His friends were turning into madmen! By bringing down Linda, they had become too addicted to the power their drone brought.

For a moment, Sunbeam, too, felt the temptation try to take hold of him, giving him a small picture of what they saw from using their drone for such control over the school and onwards. People used to look down on him, too. At times, he felt like he deserved to rise up and take chances to climb up the popularity ladder and become one of the greatest students in all of Elmore.

But by the time he realized what was happening to his friends, the fear and doubt had already taken over him, stopping him from giving into the temptation. He saw his friends falling into a state of villainous delight right before he could think about joining them. That was enough to save him from a psychopathic descent into madness.

Finally, the boy could not wait any longer. He would try and make them snap out of their lust for power and reason with them about the true purpose of the drone before it was too late

"Guys!" he yelled angrily. "The drone was supposed to be our project! To protect the innocent! Not to destroy!" But the three of them laughed, ignorant of his pleas. Dawn then shook her head, chuckling evilly at the boy.

"Sunbeam, Sunbeam, Sunbeam…" she laughed. "What's the point of peace if people like them are going to keep coming back?" Then, with a fist in the air, she roared again. "I say we keep using it to bring order to the school! No one will mess with us ever again!" The three kids laughed wickedly with unnerving vigour, bent on dominating the entire student body and beyond with their greatest weapon.

But for Sunbeam, the trio was becoming nothing more than a pack of rabid wolves, ready to exterminate the entire food chain. Unleashed, they would wreak havoc among the community, and that was putting it broadly in Watterson standards!

This had to stop. If he was to save all of the school, and of course, his own life, Sunbeam had to counteract before they would go too far. He was going to put a stop to this, even if he was going to be mangled to death by three crazy friends.

"Okay! That's it!" He jumped forward and grabbed the controller on the table, standing on top of it and looking down at his friends. The trio spotted the device in their supposed teammate's hands, triggered by shock and betrayal that one of their own had yet to see their ways.

"What are you doing?!" screamed Gem.

"Taking the controller back! You guys have clearly lost it!" yelled Sunbeam.

"Give that back!" shouted Hackman, charging for the controller. The tablet then reached his hands out to grab the controller, catching Sunbeam by surprise. The cat boy held onto his device, struggling to resist against Hackman's pull on it. Then, the two girls joined in, pulling Hackman and adding to the tension. An unfair tug-of-war ensued as three power-hungry kids fought against one sane boy.

"No!" With the force of three students against him, Sunbeam tried to even the odds. With his quick thinking, he transformed into his bear form, adding extra muscle to his side. "We need this for the science fair, not world domination!" The bear then pulled with immense strength, pulling the three all the way up and tossing them aside. They crashed onto the floor in a pile, allowing Sunbeam the chance to escape.

However, Dawn's reflexes kicked in and she was the first to get back up. Just as Sunbeam transformed back to his kid form, she immediately jumped from the pile and tackled him down. Trapping him down, she tried to reach for the controller, but Sunbeam resisted, reaching his arm out as far as he could while trying to kick his way out.

While he was pinned, Gem ran out for the controller and snatched it right out of Sunbeam's hand as he struggled, running away. The boy then quickly kicked Dawn off of him, setting his sights on the fleeing doll before transforming into a falcon and flew for her. His blade-like wings flapped once before swooping down, with his talons aimed for Gem's right arm. With one swipe, the bird managed to rip the arm off with the controller literally in hand!

Bits of cotton 'bled' out of the hole made by the tearing. Thankfully, and because she's a doll, the pain was unfelt. Instead, Gem was angered by the move. She had her body parts ripped off before, so much so that it became just annoying at this point.

"Hey!" screamed Gem.

Sunbeam attempted to carry the controller, which was still held the hand of Gem's dismembered arm, and fly out of them room. He was about halfway to the doors to the hallway and off to safety.

Suddenly, the doors slammed themselves shut. Sunbeam didn't have enough time to react before he slammed himself straight into them, dropping the arm and the controller down on the floor. He fell face flat on the tiles, unable to see the controller until he was too late. By the time he looked up, Hackman already grabbed the controller and ran back to the group.

"Hehehehe…!" the little robot beeped happily as he ran back to his compatriots. Sunbeam came back to it and saw the tablet scatter away. Getting back up, he flew towards Hackman and proceeded to snatch the controller of the robot's hands. Pulling hard, he managed to hold on tightly as Sunbeam struggled to maintain his grip of the device. Sooner or later, the rest of the group joined in and pulled the bird down to pry him off. Instantly, Sunbeam then turned back into his normal form and tried to pull the controller back, despite the girls pinching him from both sides.

The tug-of-war ensued, with Hackman pulling from one end and Sunbeam on the other, while the latter was being tormented by the two girls.

"Let go!" warned Hackman.

"No! You let go!" argued Sunbeam, putting all of his energy into it. The pulling continued, unbroken for the next minute. Each passing second, the controller was slowly slipping away from Sunbeam, hands wetted with sweat and overcome by tiredness, not to mention the pain suffered from the two girls' fingers pressing hardly onto his skin.

Eventually, Sunbeam then tried to exert all he could to make one more pull to shake the tablet off his grip. Putting his strength out, the boy then threw his arms out, feeling the sudden release of the controller slip past his hands as his body bent backwards and threw the girls off of him.

Sunbeam turned to watch the controller fly backwards, high in the air before coming down towards the ground. However, where it would land would send a shivering chill down the boy's spine.

The drone had been flying idly by while the fight between its creators ensued, leaving it unable to respond without proper authorization over who shall be its target. So, for the whole debacle, it hovered without moving once. Unfortunately, it stayed right in the path of the flying controller.

The device slammed right onto the cervical centre of the drone; in other words, its head.

"Oh no!" shouted Sunbeam, forced to watch as his drone was hit square on the head. As the controller fell to the ground, it cracked into a few pieces, leaving bits of its shell scattered and wires coming out of the openings. As for the drone, the crash had left a big dent on its head. It was strong enough to cause sparks to fly out of it, making it fidget from the damage.

The robot fizzed and jolted, convulsing here and there as it suffered a malfunction from internal damage. It spun out of control, its arms flailing around madly. The kids watched on while it continued to spiral around without stop. After spoiling itself for a while, it then stopped, facing away from the kids in a state of suspense.

The three maddened members of the group had stopped being driven with power to witness what was happening to the drone, joining Sunbeam as if they didn't just try to choke him out of betrayal. They waited for a response from the drone, which still had its back facing them as they nervously stood by.

Then, without warning, the drone turned around and stared right at them, with its one eye glowing red. The sudden, intimidating glance frightened them as its new, dark look sent an evil, chilling shock to their bodies. The look on its lens presented a somewhat unhinged, angry aura that haunted their very souls. Worse still, its arms began to shake violently all around, adding more fear to its mad state of damage.

It then began to beep loudly. blurting out error warnings as it was unable to properly function.

_**ERROR! ERROR! ERROR!**_

_**EMERGENCY OVERRIDE, INITIATED! **_

Its systems were starting to be tampered by a combined state of internal damage and programming errors that it was forced to initiate a new, emergency initiative. An emergency initiative that was poorly planned on their part…

When it spoke, its voice evolved from its emotionless, neutral tone to a more menacing, diabolical one.

_**ALL STUDENTS MUST BE ELIMINATED!**_

Everyone made a collective gulp down their throats, panic already raised to the limit. The drone was setting its sights, and its targeting computer, onto them, bent on fulfilling its damaged programming. At its hands, large claws extended further, pinching together for the kill. The cannon on top opened up, but instead of using its non-lethal electric energy, a deadly glow of red shined from within the barrel, suggesting a more powerful weapon was being used. All of these sudden changes presented a more dangerous image for the drone, coming off as now a machine of destruction.

Its systems and weapons were now upgraded, poised to cause death, and everyone, including its creators, are a target!

"Uh oh…" gulped Gem. While she, Sunbeam and Hackman were shivering with fear, Dawn just scoffed, suddenly letting her fears go in her usual manner.

"Pfft! Relax! We made this thing, remember?" laughed Dawn. "We're like its parents. It can't possibly hurt us." To prove her point, she walked in front to face the still-glaring drone. Its red eye was staring her down, watching her walk up in defiance to its power.

Detecting her movement, the drone scanned the girl and, instantly, it delivered its results without a second thought.

_**DAWN LUNA! WANTED FOR CHARGES TOO VARIED TO COUNT…**_

_**PREPARING INSTANT TERMINATION!**_

Dawn reeled back in disbelief when the drone didn't recognize her as its master. Her confidence now turned into fright when the cannon came out to do her in. As it charged, she was about to make a run for it.

"Wait! Wait!" Suddenly, Sunbeam shouted out, jumping in front of Dawn and stopping the drone from firing. Standing up for his friend, he then tried to order it to shut down by his own means. "KIYOMI. I command you to shut down this instant! Code phrase: _**Graves**_!"

For a while, the drone didn't move, probably registering the code that Sunbeam called out. The boy eagerly waited for a good sign that his efforts had stopped the mad machine from destroying them.

_**CODE UNRECOGNIZED! **_Alas, the drone did not comply, its weapon still charging and programming set on finishing them all.

"What?!" screamed Sunbeam. "What do you mean?!"

_**SUNBEAM WATTERSON! YOU BEEN TARGETED FOR GIVING ME THE MOST RIDICULOUS NAME EVER! ACTION: PURE TORTURE AND SUFFERING BEYOND YOUR WILDEST DREAMS!**_

"Okay, start screaming…" yelped Sunbeam.

"RUN!" screamed Hackman, causing everyone to disperse. The drone then finished charging its cannon and fired a large laser beam that burned a big, charred hole on the floor. Missing its targets, it then began moving around, catching the kids in a frantic chase as they exited the cafeteria and ran straight out to the halls.

Engulfed in another hectic run through the hallways, the four kids ran for their dear lives, followed furiously by their crazed drone. It fired away, letting loose deadly lasers throughout the corridors, hitting the walls, lockers and doors, spreading more fear towards anyone unfortunate enough to be in the way of the onslaught.

The group continued to run their way through the halls, bent on finding their way out of the school. Their run soon took them to a pair of red doors. Desperately, they were about to open them up and enter, without ever considering about what they might find inside.

"Wait! Stop! That's where…!" Gem tried to warn them, but it was too little too late. When they opened the doors, they simply ran right in. They found themselves in the basketball court; the place where Gem hoped they wouldn't be right now…

"The science fair is…"

The kids looked around in panic to find the entire science fair before them, already set up and about to begin. All around the court, there were the students who were preparing their projects for the event. The teachers were at one corner of the room, discussing with each other. No one seemed to be interested in what these four kids were running from, unaware of the danger that was coming.

In an effort to block the drone out, Sunbeam spotted the nearest table he could find, which was already occupied by someone else's project; a stack of… Cheese?

Yet, to save their skins, he just grabbed the table up and ran for the door, dropping the entire wobbly tower of sticky substance onto the ground as it splattered all over the floor. Its owner, one of the students in Sunbeam's class, screamed in horror as his project was utterly demolished before his eyes.

"My tower of cheese! NOOO!" he screamed, kneeling to the ground in pure defeat.

Meanwhile, despite the drama that he had caused, Sunbeam then threw the table against the door, barricading themselves in. The noise from the throw, however, did not go unnoticed.

Hearing the sudden crash on the door, the teachers were alerted to the sound. When they spotted the four kids leaning against the table, one of them, Principal Brown, grew exasperated by the commotion. Leaving the two other teachers behind, the walking pile of hair made his way to the children, face gruff as ever. Once again, he was forced to witness Sunbeam and Dawn in the act again; a little shocked that the more obedient Gem and Hackman were in it as well. Whatever stunt they were trying to pull, he was about to set them straight.

"Watterson!" exclaimed Nigel. The kids, however, were too busy trying to hold the door down to give him their attention. "What are you doing?!" Sunbeam figured there was no point hiding what was about to burst right in, so he laid the whole truth out and hoped that the principal would see the reason to trust him.

"Well, you see, Principal Brown… There's a killer drone outside and it's about to incinerate all of us!" he shouted in alarm, catching some of the students by surprise and putting them in a state of panic as well.

However, the old man wasn't so convinced. If he knew anything from the Wattersons, anything they say would most likely be an excuse to steer away from any responsibility. Here, he must have thought Sunbeam's little stunt was one such excuse, but it was one too farfetched for even this sceptical victim of his antics.

"I have no time for your games, boy." groaned Principal Brown, clipboard being held in his armpit as he placed his fists onto his hips, bending forward to stare the boy in the face. "The fair is about to begin. Do you have your project or not?"

Just as Sunbeam was about to insist, he was soon blown back by a sudden force behind them.

_**BOOM!**_

An explosion threw the table and the kids back, busting the doors open in a brilliant, hot flash that stunned the entire court. The shockwave produced sent a shattering force that nearly threw everyone away by the blast. Everyone's startled faces turned to the explosion in alarm, stopping whatever they were doing to bear witness to the sheer terror that was about to enter.

From the smoke, a floating silhouette emerged, flashing a red dot at its centre. Its sharp fingers fiddling together gave off a sinister vibe, adding more anxiety throughout the court. When it cleared through the smoke, it finally revealed itself to the masses. Where Sunbeam's group wanted to display it as a hopeful symbol of anti-bullying prowess, it now came as a menacing evil that was about to incinerate _everyone_!

While the whole room fell dreadfully silent in fear, Sunbeam pointed up at the drone to tell Principal Brown what was in front of them.

"_That's_ our project, sir…"

"EVERYONE, RUN!" screamed Principal Brown, sending the entire science fair into a frenzy. Everyone abandoned the spectacle of the fair and began running around like a herd of sheep being hunted by a wolf. Like a predator, the drone scanned every single person in the room and immediately registered them all as targets for termination.

The drone then fired its laser all over the place, causing people to duck and jump in utter panic. The tables and stalls were being levelled, either stomped to the ground by the feet of fleeing people as they tried to escape or being cut down by the drone's laser. Science projects of all varieties and functionalities were utterly destroyed by the beams, but no one seemed to care as their lives were at stake.

At one instance, Principal Brown wasn't able to dodge the laser and it barely singed through a layer of his hair, exposing a bit of burnt skin before he was caught on fire from the blast. He ran with a burning flame behind his back, frantically rushing for the washroom to extinguish the flame.

Meanwhile, while the court was being vacated, Sunbeam and his friends hid underneath a still-standing table, which had barely survived the initial onslaught. While the screams died down, they began to contemplate their creation, their madness for power already gone. Except for Dawn, of course, who was still relishing in the destruction her drone was causing.

Sunbeam peeked from behind the table cloth, seeing the drone destroying more of the room. Sweat was pouring down his face faster than rain on a stormy day. His nerves jittered madly under his skin, causing him to slowly tremble in fear as he witnessed the raw carnage his invention was ensuing. The fright was shared by Gem and Hackman behind him, who were crawled up under the same table.

"You think we can still get an A+ out of this?" gulped Hackman.

"How can you think about grades at a time like this?!" hushed Gem. "There's always a time for optimism. And then, there's a time for blood-curdling screams!"

"Dawn! This is all our fault!" cried Sunbeam. "We fuelled that thing with too much power and now, everyone's a target!" Unlike the three of them, Dawn was still relishing in the chaos, as usual. Out of everyone who had been driven mad, she was still stuck in that state.

"I know! Soon, the entire school will bend to our will! Even the teachers would be wise never to mess with us kids again! Isn't that great?!" she bellowed with pride and joy.

"NO!" shouted Sunbeam, grabbing Dawn by the collar with both hands and shook her up. "It's the complete opposite of great! We're going to die! Snap out of it, girl!"

Then, the table began to lift up, bringing light back into the shade. When the kids looked up, they saw the drone stretching its one arm up to raise the table, while the other pinched several times, eager for the kill.

"AAAAAAAHHHH!" Everyone, even Dawn, ran away, just in time before it fired another laser beam, drilling a deep, charred hole within the polished wooden floor. The kids ran off to the exit on the other side of the gym, but were then intercepted by the drone. It then fired its laser onto the door, blasting away at the doors and leaving a blazing fire at the doorway, trapping them inside. With no exit in sight, they then scurried for the next cover they could find.

Everyone broke out into different directions, running away as the drone chased them all around. Hackman ran here and there, barely avoiding the beams of firepower with what many would perceive as dumb luck. When the drone switched targets and fired towards Gem, the one-armed doll skipped desperately around, also narrowly dodging laser blasts as she went.

While those two were being chased around helplessly, Sunbeam and Dawn jumped behind a table that had fallen on its side. What looked like a puddle of slime from another student's project covered their feet. With the deadly robot distracted by the other two, they were able to catch their breath for a short while. Shortly afterwards, Sunbeam grew restless after hearing the destruction going around in the background, watching Hackman and Gem running around for their lives while his robot was trying to vaporize them.

"What do we do?" cried Sunbeam. "If this keeps up, it'll trash the whole school." The more it blasted, the more devastated the gym was. Now that the science fair was totalled, it had to

"Hey, it's not our fault you named that thing KIYOMI in the first place." argued Dawn.

"Well, what about that AI chip? I told you it was a bad idea to use it!" countered Sunbeam.

"No, you didn't. You were just as excited as I was when we put it in there. You were like… _'DEW IT! Make the transaction!' _Remember?" joked Dawn.

"Okay, fine! We need to switch it off!" said Sunbeam. He then held out what was left of his controller, still in a state of disrepair. "Too bad the controller's all busted." Taking her turn to look, Dawn then peeked over the table to find the drone. By then, Gem and Hackman were already gone, behind some other table. She then pointed towards the robot, where she wanted Sunbeam to look at.

"There! The off switch!" The boy took a closer look and saw a red button at the rear of the drone. He couldn't believe that Dawn had to choose the most impossible spot where they would switch off a rogue device in any emergency. It's like trying to wrestle down a hungry grizzly bear with rabies on steroids… with a laser cannon attached to its back!

"You put the off switch **on** the freaking robot?!" screamed Sunbeam in disbelief.

"Hey! You wanted it to be fool proof, so I put it in the place where **no one** can reach it." defended Dawn.

"No one including **us**?" countered Sunbeam as he slapped his forehead.

"I thought it was a good idea at the time!" added Dawn. Sunbeam shook his head, choosing to ignore the debate and focused back on the drone.

"Well, we better shut the drone down!" he reminded.

"Okay." agreed Dawn. "So how do we do that?" Sunbeam resisted the urge to smack-talk her at this point, thinking she would know something when she was the one built the button on the drone in the first place.

There was no time for intricate strategies or tactical analysis. This was a desperate situation that was building up rapidly, so they could not stall any longer. Action was needed, the school needed to be saved and more importantly, they had to do something, or it's off to the principal's office for the worst offences.

"The only thing we can do…" sighed Sunbeam before rising up with bravado and gusto. "Rush right in and take it down!"

"That's it? That's all you could think of?" said Dawn, deadpanned by the lack of a better plan.

"Sorry. I can't really plan things when we're being attacked like this." said Sunbeam, scratching the back of his head.

"Fine. Then, we're going to need some weapons." suggested Dawn, looking around for anything useful that the science fair might have. Besides herself, someone would be bound to have created something destructive sooner or later.

"Don't need one." said Sunbeam, cracking up a wise grin before he jumped out from behind the table. His whole body then transformed into his turtle form and stood upright, with his back facing the drone to use his shell as a shield. He didn't know how much firepower he'd take, but it was worth the risk to immobilize it. "I _am_ the weapon!" Getting behind the shell, Dawn prepared to move out, doing whatever she did best at the moment; bare claws and everything.

When the two kids popped out, the drone immediately turned around after detecting the presence of the children behind it. Locking onto the turtle, it then loaded up another cannon and aimed for them.

_**THREATS DETECTED! SWITCHING TO STAPLER ROUNDS!**_

From out the barrel, a barrage of tiny, sharp stapler clips fired like a machinegun towards the hard shell. The pelleting bullets rapidly bounced off Sunbeam, protecting Dawn from behind. His body vibrated with the wave of bullets clinking against him while the fox girl pushed the turtle forward and slowly inched towards the drone so she could get a closer shot.

Slowly, they got closer and closer; the drone's weapon still firing away, unable to puncture through the rock-hard shell. Dawn kept hiding behind the turtle, pushing him on until Sunbeam would give her the signal to jump up and attack. After a while, the drone stopped firing, with its cannon out of ammo.

"Now!" Sunbeam shouted. Leaping above him, Dawn then ninja-jumped over his head and pounced on the drone, attempting to reach for the rear and press the button. She grabbed on tightly on its top, wrapping her arms around it as it then tried to wrestle her off. Like a bull-rider trying to tame his beast, she kept her hold for dear life as the wild robot jumped up and down, spinning rapidly to throw her off. She crept up closer to the reset button, bracing the tremendous force of the spinning and swinging.

After a round of mad shaking, the drone then threw its arms back and managed to grab Dawn, throwing her off and sending the girl flying back to Sunbeam. She then crashed right into the boy and they both fell to the ground, forcing the former to morph back into his normal form.

Slightly concussed, they both then got back up dizzily, rubbing their heads from the nausea they suffered. When they recovered, they saw the drone aiming at them again after reloading its stapler gun. It fired the weapon again, unleashing another round of clips onto them. They dodged the incoming bullets, rolling away and running in separate directions.

Sunbeam took cover behind the broken remains of a machine made by another student, its burning wreck protecting him from the hailstorm of stapler clips that clattered all over it. Dawn, on the other hand, leapt to a nearby stall, where another student had lost his homemade volcano. The burning mountain made of rubber and filled with hot sauce instead of actual lava, much to her disappointment, laid on its side, spewing out a blob of sauce onto the floor. Settling with it anyway, Dawn picked it up and pressed a remote button to fire the volcano onto the drone.

"THAR, SHE BLOWS!"

The volcano then blew its top, firing a blast of 'lava' all over the drone. The sauce splattered all over it, which then proceeded to burn into the insides. It spun around in utter, robotic agony, fidgeting with sparks and jolting without control. The purple metal hull reddened from the searing hot sauce that was melting through the durable metal.

While the machine burned, Sunbeam then took his turn to reach for the button. He flapped his wings hard and zoomed for the drone, zipping around it and attempted to press the button. However, KIYOMI was able to catch him before he could grab hold of it, spinning over and narrowly dodging the boy. Sunbeam flew past it and was unable to stop himself before he then painfully crashed into the brick wall, blasting a huge hole into it.

With Sunbeam out of the way, Dawn then took matters into her own hands, grabbing what looked like a giant Swiss-army knife from another booth. She flipped out a large pair of cutters and proceeded to charge with a vicious roar. She swung the cutters down to try and deal some massive damage, but the drone evaded the attack, shifting to the side before snatching the giant knife away and throwing Dawn to the ground.

After crashing to the floor, Dawn rubbed her head, suffering a bit more pain to the head. Her visage then focused on the drone as it charged another laser beam at her. Before the cannon fired, the drone was then knocked by something that zoomed towards it, hitting it and forced it to fire the beam upwards into the roof, breaking another hole in the school.

The zooming figure then zipped in front of Dawn, revealing himself to be Sunbeam in a weasel form. He then transformed back into his normal form and helped his friend up. But before they could take on their drone again, the machine was able to get a lock on them again and fired more stapler rounds at them. The two ran for cover and leapt into a huge diorama of a… trench warfare display? Regardless whether it was out of place in a science fair or not, they jumped into the dugout trench, barely avoiding the painful barrage from hitting them.

The bullets kept hitting the edge of the trench, pinning the kids down. Dressed in military uniforms, they kept their heads down, their ears somewhat ringing from the endless riddling of shells. Soon, the colour around them turned bleak and the next thing they knew it, they were starting to hear explosions in the background, coming from the drone's lasers.

"Cover me!" shouted Sunbeam, like a military officer. "We're going over the top!"

"What?!" yelled Dawn, pulling him back and sounding like a soldier. "But that's suicide!" Sunbeam grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her back and forth, rebuking her for her lack of a spine.

"Where's your honour, soldier?!"

"What are you talking about?! We're kids, not soldiers!" yelled Dawn. "And why are we suddenly in the middle of the Great War?! Did Patty build a war set for a science fair?!"

"Don't you ruin this epic parody scene for me!" yelled Sunbeam before letting her go. From the ground, he grabbed something made out of a broom with some metal parts and a roll of tissue paper in the end, possibly to resemble a rifle since the story is basically for kids and the network would sue me if I actually include a weapon in it, even if it's a fanfiction…

Dawn picked up another makeshift weapon and prepared to follow Sunbeam to the fight, the field still hammered by the drone's attack.

Around his neck, Sunbeam grabbed the whistle, blowing hard and signalling to his only soldier to jump out and attack.

"CHARGE!" The two roared loudly in full glorious fashion, running blindly towards the enemy with the sole intention of defeating it once and for all. To save their country, or school for the matter, they would rush through the fire and take out their enemy, no matter the cost. They would go out in a blaze of glory if they had to…!

If only their imagination was just as awesome as it would be in real life…

Instead of being knocked back by an explosion, Sunbeam got whacked out by a roll of tissue paper, immediately ending the imaginative scenario with all the glorious music and bravado gone in an instant.

Dawn stopped to see Sunbeam fall down in the most anticlimactic way possible. She then looked up at the drone, realizing the stupid move she just made, holding a fake weapon in her hands. Chuckling sheepishly, she dropped it down on the ground, backing off as the drone moved in for the win.

It hovered over Sunbeam, sensing that he was already knocked out for him to pose any threat. All there was left was Dawn Luna, ripe for the taking. She kept rearing back, just as the drone was about to finally vaporize her with its laser weapon.

As Dawn braced for the killing blow, she waited eagerly for another brief moment to recollect her life before her eventual death… only to hear Sunbeam yell out.

"Psyche!" When she opened her eyes, Dawn saw Sunbeam throwing a lone brick that had fallen from one of the explosions. The object then flew right for the drone and, finally, hit the rear, pressing hard on the button.

A little too hard, unfortunately…

The drone then began to fizz out uncontrollably, spinning wildly with its arms again swinging in all directions. The off button was completely wrecked by the throw that it was pushed right into the hole. The messed up circuits inside soon sent the drone into a malfunctioning frenzy, fidgeting like crazy until, finally, it fell to the ground, bursting into flames, ending the chaos for good.

After the drone fell, Sunbeam and Dawn looked at the burning wreckage, slowly approaching it to make sure it was gone. They gave it a minute to confirm that the drone was finally out of commission.

Sunbeam began to tear up, a wet droplet escaped his eye as he moped silently for _another_ 'death' of his favourite console. He knelt down, picking up a piece of the console that had broken off from the drone, clenching his fist to embrace what remained of the Z-Cube.

"My Z-Cube…" wept the boy. By his side, Dawn comforted him with a pat on the back, assuring him that she could get it repaired.

"I can fix it, bro." she told him. It was good to know that whatever Dawn could destroy, she could fix it just as good, mainly so she could destroy it over and over again. but she also liked playing with the Z-Cube, and she would restore it to its prime.

But for now, the chaos was over. As much as Dawn wanted to keep going, there was already so much they could take. Even the two biggest troublemakers of Elmore had to have their break. Their bodies were already bruised and burnt enough as it was, so they might as well enjoy the peace while it lasted…

But they weren't about to enjoy it anytime soon…

"WATTERSON! LUNA!" The loud yell of Principal Brown shook them to their core, the man already on his way to get some things done with them. His hair was blackened with soot, burnt from the laser that singed through him earlier, but his temper was much more flaring hot, furious with another shenanigan pulled by the infamous duo. "Do you two have any idea what you have done?!"

"Uh… demonstrating our science project?" answered Sunbeam, shrugging his shoulders.

"_This_ is not a science project…" Nigel Brown urged, pointing his finger at the destruction with vigour. "This… is a weapon of mass destruction!" Groaning with frustration, the man rubbed his hairy temples, shaking his head in disappointment. Another disastrous round of bills and renovations were going to made after this was over. As for the fair, a chance for Elmore Junior High to be recognized had been lost once again…

"What am I going to do with you two?" he groaned. "Actually, where are your teammates?"

"Here, sir." From behind him, Gem and Hackman, both battered just as much, came up to answer to the teacher. Even if they were victims in this disaster, they too could not deny that they were responsible for the drone as well. So, they had no choice but to submit themselves for punishment, joining their two other teammates in the blame game.

"Since you four had come up with a rather monstrous machine, I would have given you all an F." urged the Principal. The four had figured this was the way to go. Gem took the news very badly, of course, while Hackman was forced to sigh in discontent for another flaw in his programming. But then, Principal Brown was about to give them a little bit of good news. "But since no one else had their projects laid out and the fair needs a winner, I suppose I can give you an D- for being the only ones with _a _project."

"Yes!" Sunbeam cheered. His teammates, however, didn't share his optimism. "Not an F!" But before Sunbeam could jump for joy, Principal Brown then handed him a broom, ceasing the joy and putting the team to work on cleaning up the mess.

"Now, start cleaning up."

"Darn it…"

* * *

And so, an hour was spent cleaning up the aftermath of the quagmire that happened today. Four disgruntled students, sweeping and mopping up the charred remains of a fair that they hoped to find excellence in, only for it all to come burning down, literally.

Sunbeam was busy sweeping up the wreckage of his drone, keeping it all in a black garbage bag so he could bring it back home and have Dawn repair it. Amidst the punishment, he started to realize the importance of today's fiasco.

"Hey, at least we all learnt an important lesson today." cleared Sunbeam.

"That we should never build deadly robots with laser eyes and crushing hands?" said Dawn.

"That revenge does not equate to justice?" added Hackman.

"That having you two as lab partners is a death sentence?" groaned Gem.

"Nope! We learnt that we should use living animals as our next science project! I'm thinking; lizard transformations! Wouldn't it be cool if we made a dinosaur out of one?!"

Then, as he chortled on with delusions of grandeur, Sunbeam soon found himself alone; his teammates gone without a trace. The equipment they were using had dropped to the ground, leaving the boy all on his own…

"Guys?"


End file.
